New Laws on Supply of Alcohol to Under 18’s
Monday, 22 September 2008 12:10
As we enter the post-formals and schoolies time of the year parents and other adults need to be aware that the law has been changed significantly.New laws passed recently in Queensland which will come into force by the end of the month make it an offence to supply alcohol to people under the age of eighteen.
The laws apply not just to liquor stores but also to the general community including parents, siblings and other adults.
The new laws do not apply to the supply of alcohol by parents in “a responsible manner”. This is in effect an exemption for parents who may wish to share a drink with their children under supervision at the dinner table or a barbecue, for example.
However the new laws which carry heavy penalties do apply under most other circumstances.
Parents who supply cartons of beer or bottles of spirits for schoolies, post-formals and the like would be liable to prosecution and significant penalties.
Similarly adults who supply liquor to minors for the conduct of so-called youth “parties” will also generally be in breach of the law.
Under-age drinking has become a major social problem with young people being at significant risk of harm particularly from violence, assault, accidents, trauma, drowning, suicide and the like.
For years loopholes in the Queensland law meant that under-age drinking was strictly enforced only at most licensed premises and therefore a culture of drinking at parties or other activities in private homes or elsewhere developed to circumvent the laws.
I have supported these laws which were first introduced into State Parliament last year by the Opposition.
The Opposition bill was rejected on that occasion by the Government only to be introduced in almost identical form and passed recently.
Local resident, Robyn Emerson, played a significant role in forcing the Government’s hand by sponsoring a petition that I presented to Parliament.
I know that some people believe under-age drinking is a relatively harmless activity that young people have done for many years. An examination of the facts does not support this view.
Under age drinking has skyrocketed compared to previous years and as the amount of alcohol and the frequency of alcohol consumed has increased so has the mounting damage on the lives of many of our young people.
Sometimes the young people badly affected are not even participants in under-age drinking being victims of assaults, passengers in vehicle accidents etc.
There has been a large body of work done in Australia on studying under-age drinking and virtually without exception it has been alarming.
To read my speech to Parliament CLICK HERE.
Last year I officially visited schoolies on the Gold Coast. I was impressed by the extent to which dedicated volunteers and health workers went in order to protect the safety of our children. However their efforts needed to be backed up by appropriate laws.
The real issue as to whether these laws will be effective will hinge on the Government’s preparedness to ensure they are enforced and the enforcement of them being conducted with commonsense.