Australia: Drinking games in pubs and bars encouraging reckless alcohol consumption across NSW
The Daily Telegraph
By Linda Silmalis, The Sunday Telegraph
August 29, 2015
BUCKETS, milk bottles and plastic bags are just some of the novel ways bars are trying to entice patrons to consume more alcohol.
One held a “death wing” eating challenge in which patrons raced to down hot and spicy chicken pieces to win beer.
Another in Petersham served alcohol in easy-to-skol ziplock sandwich bags, while martini glasses big enough to hold eight drinks were offered to punters at a Darlinghurst venue.
One licensed Sydney Harbour boat operator fooled no one with its Anzac Day “Ship Faced Cruise”.
The great Australian beer skolling competitions of the ’80s may have been banned but as the NSW Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing (OLGR) has found during its investigations, venues are finding more novel ways to promote alcohol consumption.
In 101 cases investigated in the past year, 44 venues were forced to scrap or modify their promotions, with the rest given warnings.
The Newcastle hotel holding the spicy chicken challenge had been offering patrons the opportunity to win their “weight in beer”.
The venue was ordered to modify the prize to two beers, while the Petersham bar was forced to reduce the amount of alcohol being served.
Although the giant martini glasses remain on offer in Darlinghurst, bar staff have been told to only sell them to groups with patrons required to drink out of separate standard-sized glasses.
In separate investigations, officers found a Taree hotel selling child-themed alcohol products such as vodka-infused gummy bears and cocktails with semi-nude Barbie dolls perched on top of the glasses.
Under state liquor promotion guidelines, venues must not sell products that could be seen to encourage underage drinking.
A mid-north coast hotel ditched the novelty acts, staging old-fashioned beer skolling competitions, as did a Darling Harbour venue, which offered shots from buckets.
A Milperra venue filled old glass milk bottles with cocktails, while a Port Macquarie hotel held an hourly lottery with up to 20 beers on offer as a prize.
The OLGR’s Anthony Keon said bars were allowed to hold competitions so long as they did not encourage reckless drinking.
“All licensed venues are required to serve alcohol responsibly in a safe and well regulated environment and we will continue to target the small minority of venues that promote reckless drinking and intoxication for the sake of profits,” he said.
“We are not about stifling business innovation or healthy competition but setting clear expectations for the conduct of liquor promotions which can significantly influence how patrons consume alcohol and behave on licensed premises.”
“If the Baird government was serious, they would immediately increase the fines and send a message that dangerous promotions are going to cost big time and damage the profit bottom line of a venue.”
Greens MP John Kaye said the State government needed to increase penalties for venues breaching the liquor promotion guidelines.
“The real problem is the enforcement of the guidelines is weak,” Mr Kaye said.
“The penalties are seen by most publicans and licensees as nothing more than a cost of doing business.
“If the Baird government was serious, they would immediately increase the fines and send a message that dangerous promotions are going to cost big time and damage the profit bottom line of a venue.”
Under NSW liquor laws, licensed venues must demonstrate responsible sale, supply, service and promotion of alcohol or face a $5500 fine and a strike under the “three strikes” disciplinary scheme.
Mr Keon said the laws also applied to irresponsible alcohol promotions on websites and social media.
A spokeswoman for the NSW Australian Hotels Association said there was insufficient information about the individual cases to comment.