LIQUOR LICENCING: CASE STUDY

The Crystal View Restaurant is a new and very busy restaurant and bar on Cronulla beach. The restaurant has gained an excellent reputation in the Sutherland Shire for the amazing food and cocktails that they market primarily through social media. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner from 12pm to late, Thursday - Sunday. Crystal View serves amazing modern Australian food with a shared menu concept. The venue does not sell alcohol for purchase (unopened), only served to customers whilst at the venue. The main group of clientele that visit regularly include male and females from 18-40 years of age.

The business has always had an issue retaining skilled staff due to poor management. Staff often feel as if they are underappreciated, leaving them with a lower care factor during their shifts, although they try their hardest. All staff have their RSA and were asked for a copy when they began their employment. However, no training has been provided on how these laws are put into practice within the venue and there has been no explanation of workplace procedures. Half the signage required for selling alcohol was missing or had been removed. On a very busy Saturday night, the restaurant was understaffed as usual and the manager had taken more bookings than they could handle. The Duty Manager called in sick and no other arrangements were made. There was also a large group of 16 that had come in for an 18th birthday at 7 pm during peak period (pre-booked). Staff did not have time to check all guests ID's before they had ordered drinks, and assumed because it was an 18th that everyone else was 18 also. A staff member also knew a few of the people belonging to this group and didn't want to seem 'uncool' checking all of their IDs and refusing to serve them when they were clearly intoxicated. Other staff members went about their own business looking after their sections as they were too busy to take notice.

By 8:30 pm, most of the guests from the group were drunk and causing trouble to other guests. One of the drunk guests stood up on the table and when asked to please get down because they were about to be escorted out by the manager, fell as she was wearing heels and knocked her head on the corner of another table. The girl was unconscious but still breathing, she had very clearly split her head open. Luckily, the police patrolling the local area were first to come in and help, an ambulance was called by another staff member. After some investigation, the girl who had suffered injuries was in fact under 18 as well as 10 people in this group.

QUESTIONS (based on Australian law regulations)

1. List all the liquor licenses that can be issued under NSW Liquor and Gaming and briefly describe the characteristics of each one. Based on the information provided in the case study, what type of liquor license would the venue hold and why?
2. What breaches against liquor licensing laws are present in this case study?
3. What are the maximum penalties that can be incurred for all the breaches in question 2?
4. How can a business lose its liquor license? Do you think Crystal View Restaurant could lose its license and why?
5. If you were the manager, what procedures and/or training would you put in place to prevent the incidents, in this case, a study from occurring?
6. What are some effective ways to check the authenticity of an ID.
7. Why does Australian society license the sale of alcohol? Do you think licensing is really required, why or why not?