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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-13 Daily Xml
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RESPONSIBLE ALCOHOL SERVICE

The Hon. S.G. WADE (14:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question relating to the responsible service of alcohol.

Leave granted.

The Hon. S.G. WADE: In October 2009, in consideration of the Liquor Licensing (Producers, Responsible Service and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2009, the Hon. Ann Bressington and members of the opposition raised concerns about the impact of the responsible service of alcohol regulation on people with disabilities. People with neurological conditions, brain injury, some people with an intellectual disability, and others, can be mistakenly perceived as being intoxicated. People with disability should not have their opportunities for social interaction curtailed by poorly implemented measures to address public intoxication. In response to the concerns raised the minister said:

These matters, we intend, will be dealt with in the development of the code of practice, and we hope that that will outline training requirements for industry staff, amongst other things. It is my intention that this training, as well as a new fact sheet, will be developed by the Office of Liquor and Gambling. That will further assist people to differentiate between someone who is intoxicated and someone who could be suffering from a disability.

The new regime the minister was referring to was implemented on 3 May 2010. My questions are:

1. Given the minister's commitments, why is the code of practice on the Office of Liquor and Gambling website still a 2006 edition and does not include a single reference to people with disability?

2. Why does the website not carry a fact sheet on discerning intoxication, as the minister promised?

3. Given the minister's commitments and her recognition of the need for staff training, why was the new regime launched on 3 May 2010 when the Responsible Service of Alcohol Handbook is not available on the website intended to support liquor industry workers to differentiate between intoxicated people and people with disability?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:25): As I have outlined in this chamber previously, the code of conduct is being reviewed. The former attorney-general and I announced a liquor licensing review last year, at which time we said that we would look at those elements of legislation and other practices to combat alcohol-fuelled crime. We announced at the time our desire to look at the powers of the police as well as the powers of the commissioner. We have started work on reviewing the code of conduct, and we have now placed the completion of that work within that review process, because it would be quite silly to be conducting one review and completing our code of conduct separately, given that they would be assessing similar matters.

I announced at the time that we would be looking at things such as trading hours, the advertising of happy hours and the number of shots that could be bought in a single serve. We said that we would look at a whole range of initiatives, and put out for public consideration and discussion an extensive review of practices to address the problem of alcohol-fuelled crime, particularly as it pertains to our entertainment districts. We know that is an issue of concern. People say all the time that they are sick and tired of having their night out spoiled by people who have consumed too much alcohol and made a real nuisance of themselves, and, even worse than that, end up in fights and all sorts of things.

So, we have undertaken that review. The code of conduct, as I have said, is now part of that review process, and that will be completed and consulted on within that framework. Members would be aware that changes to liquor licensing legislation were passed fairly recently, and they were implemented at the beginning of this month. At that time, we released intoxication guidelines for licensees, bar staff and patrons, and we also produced an edition that was in plain English in order to make clear and simple the changes to be implemented. It looked at issues around the new description of intoxication, the responsibilities of bar staff and licensees, and the introduction of the new provision whereby a mate or a patron in licensed premises would be in breach if they attempted to buy alcohol for, or supply it to, an intoxicated friend on licensed premises. It pointed out that, under these new provisions, a licensee was able to remove both that patron and also the intoxicated person.

Within those guidelines we looked at the issue of intoxication, and we also made it very clear that, when a person is assessing intoxication, they must consider the circumstances of that person and consider other conditions that might mimic intoxication, and there are a list of matters for bar staff to consider. So, the guidelines draw to their attention that there are conditions that mimic intoxication. It also states that, when a bar staff member or a licensee or licence holder is making the assessment as to whether or not a person is intoxicated, they must consider these matters. In fact, when we developed these intoxication guidelines, we made sure that we consulted with Disability SA, and I think we also put it out to the Brain Injury Association for consideration. We also requested one other disability group to consider the guidelines. Generally, they supported the guidelines and thought that they covered the issue of those conditions that mimicked intoxication.

I would be most surprised if these intoxication guidelines are not on the website. However, I will double-check that and, if they are not on the website, I will make sure that they are available. I can say that these guidelines have been distributed extensively throughout the industry, so staff members are well aware of the new provisions and the considerations they are now required to make.

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