Australia: Health Experts Support Laws Regulating On-Demand Liquor Delivery
Health experts from Australia at the Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drugs Council in Tasmania (ATDC) express strong support for laws regulating on-demand liquor delivery.
The ATDC is supporting better measures after a study by the University of New South Wales (UNSW) found current regulations were failing to protect minors.
Researchers examined the sales, marketing and delivery practices of the 65 most popular online alcohol retailers in Australia. They found:
- 69% of websites would leave alcohol unattended at an address without having verified the purchaser’s age,
- 12% offered delivery within 2 hours,
- 13.8% allowed customers to purchase alcohol through a “buy now, pay later” scheme,
- 20% offered a 750ml bottle of wine for under $5,
- 81.5% offered discounts for buying more alcohol,
- There was no requirement for delivery drivers to hold a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification.
ATDC chief executive Alison Lai said express delivery of alcohol is still not available in Tasmania. However, there are concerns alcohol delivery may be happening via Uber Eats.
Ms. Lai added that there is a framework for online alcohol sales which requires online alcohol retailers to verify a person’s date of birth when purchasing online and on delivery, yet, the training and processes for delivery drivers so that they adhere to the regulations are not strong enough. Further, online alcohol sale and delivery is hard to monitor making it easier for minors to purchase alcohol.
As Movendi International previously reported, the existing alcohol control system in Australia has 3 major regulatory gaps concerning online alcohol sale and delivery:
- Age verification is only sporadically used,
- Concerns around rapid delivery and delivery late at night have not been addressed, and
- There are no requirements to reduce the delivery of alcohol to people already intoxicated, putting vulnerable and dependent people at risk.
Laws to strengthen regulation of online alcohol sale and delivery
Ms. Lai also questions the efficacy of the voluntary code of conduct developed by Retail Drinks Australia for online alcohol sale and delivery. As the results of the UNSW study show, the code is failing to keep minors safe from alcohol harm.
The alcohol laws in Tasmania were tightened back in 2015 with the growing online alcohol retail business. According to current alcohol laws in Tasmania, it is illegal for a liquor licensee and the delivery person to deliver liquor to a person under the age of 18 years. The maximum penalty for the offense is $3,360. It is also illegal for a person under 18 to take delivery of liquor sold online.
The government is in the process of reviewing Tasmania’s alcohol policy with the development of a new Tasmanian Drug Strategy.
Out of this will come the next Tasmanian Alcohol Action Framework which will also be informed by the National Alcohol Strategy 2019-2028.
