The figures will be pleasant news to ACT Police Minister Joy Burch after the territory government gave a clear directive for a crackdown on alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour.

While 205 people were arrested for alcohol-related assaults in 2012, this dropped to 189 in 2013 and 169 in 2014, ACT Policing figures show.

Drink-driving arrests have almost been halved with 111 arrests in 2012 compared to 61 last year.

The number of juveniles taken into custody for intoxication has been cut by 40 per cent from 40 in 2012-13 to 24 last financial year.

In the 2013-14 financial year, 24 juveniles were lodged in custody for intoxication, a 40 per cent reduction compared to the previous financial year.

The number of alcohol-related sex assaults a year went from 11 to 10 to six in the past three years.

An ACT Policing spokesman credited the reduction in drunken violence to the work of officers and engagement with licensed venues.

"As part of the ministerial direction for 2014-15 for ACT Policing, the minister has directed [police] to focus on reducing alcohol-related crime, specifically alcohol-related violence, by actively working with partner agencies to reduce the frequency and impact and harms caused by this crime type," the spokesman said.

"Alcohol-related crime requires a sustained, long-term focus.

"ACT Policing's regional targeting team continues to be vital to reducing alcohol-related crime."

The spokesman said police were "unfortunately" still seeing alcohol-related violence, even though it could be avoided.

"Alcohol impairs people's ability to reason and verbal capacity to resolve conflict.

"It also increases the likelihood of becoming a victim of crime – that's why we say to people, look after your friends and walk away."

The spokesman said people out on the town should look out for their mates and, if need be, remove themselves and their friends from heated situations and go elsewhere or home.

"Don't put a friend who is intoxicated in a cab by themselves, help them get home safely," the spokesman said.

"Be careful with people that you have just met and don't know well.

"Try and avoid becoming intoxicated and, if possible stay in a public place in the company of your friends.

"If you are leaving alone, tell your friends and have them wait with you until your transport arrives."

Taxis, designated drivers and Canberra's Nightrider bus service were some of the ways people could get home safely.

As The Canberra Times reported last month, alcohol-related injuries caused more trouble for hospital emergency departments in terms of volume than the widely discussed drug ice.

Calvary Hospital deals with people who ride bicycles home drunk, intoxicated patients who have spat in the faces of ambulance officers trying to help or simply people who drink themselves into a stupor and arrive unconscious.

A national survey of 2000 emergency department staff has revealed 92 per cent had been physically threatened by drunk patients, 98 per cent had been verbally abused and 88 per cent said the care of other patients had been negatively affected by drunks in the department.

The survey, done in December, found one in eight patients nationally had ended up in hospital as a result of harmful alcohol abuse and the college said nearly half of all Australians reported drinking at levels that put them at risk of injury.