JUVENILE LIQUOR SOURCES REVEALED

Over 92 per cent of alcohol obtained by juveniles comes from parents, relatives, friends, stealing or asking someone else to buy it, according to Western Australian Government research.

The Australian Hotels Association (WA) and the Liquor Stores Association of WA have today recommitted to encourage their members to practice responsible service of alcohol and follow well established policies to not sell alcohol to juveniles.

However they also strongly made the point that there are very few prosecutions of bottle shops and liquor stores supplying liquor to juveniles, as licensees are actively policing I.Ds and young people  know it’s simply too hard to obtain liquor from these places when underage.

AHA(WA) CEO, Bradley Woods, and LSAWA Executive Director, Lindsay James, said “according to the most recent report from the WA Drug and Alcohol Office’s ‘School Student Alcohol and Drug Survey’; over 92 per cent of alcohol is obtained by juveniles through family and other people.

“The industry has always opposed the sale of liquor to minors and supports sensible measures that ensure liquor is not obtained by them”, Mr Woods and Mr James said.

Both the AHA and LSA committed their organisations to being part of a solution and working with the WA Police as opposed to being vilified without proper process and consultation.

The AHA and the LSA assist their members in being better equipped to train staff and use best practice when asking for identification if someone looks within a young age grouping.

“Both associations welcome the Police Commissioner, Karl O’Callaghan’s, commitment today on 6PR radio to work with the liquor industry and provide access to the methodology WA Police use during their purchase operations ”, Mr Woods and Mr James concluded.