A study has found alcohol bought at liquor stores and drunk outside pubs or licensed venues is playing a major role in causing violence across Australia.

Deakin University research shows 60 per cent of people treated at regional Victorian emergency departments with injuries had drunk alcohol purchased at outlets like liquor stores or supermarkets in the hours preceding their injuries.

The study will be published in Emergency Medicine Australasia, the journal for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

The study's author, Professor Peter Miller, said there had been a big change in where people bought alcohol over the past 20 years.

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"They are buying much greater quantities from supermarkets and bottle shops, they are consuming it at home before going out or just staying at home and consuming it," Professor Miller said.

"And we are seeing that trend now showing up in terms of presentations at the emergency department."

Sydney student Anthea said she often saw people turn up to pubs drunk and engage in violent behaviour.

"I've seen a couple of punches to the back of the head by cowards, a couple of trip-ups by worse cowards but yeah, mostly punching," she said.

Professor Diana Egerton-Warburton from the College of Emergency Medicine said Anthea's anecdotes were common.

"We [did] a survey last year - over 2,000 clinicians, doctors and nurses - and nine out of 10 of them experienced alcohol-fuelled violence in the last year but in fact seven out of 10 [said] it's a weekly or monthly occurrence," Professor Egerton-Warburton said.

Professor Miller said it would not be an easy task to reduce alcohol consumption but governments must be prepared to undertake tough measures.

"Putting in place a minimum price for alcohol has been found very, very effective in countries such as Canada but we could also look at simply saying if supermarkets and bottle shops are causing more harm or are the source of greater harm, maybe we need to be putting a levy on them so that at least there is some cost recovery going back to the government for the massive resources we spend on police and emergency departments," he said.

Professor Miller and his researchers intend to conduct a larger trial in other parts of the country soon.