Under-age alcohol check catches out one retailer

Kāpiti Coast District Council regulatory staff are satisfied with the results of a recent check of off licensed premises selling to under-age youths where just one business allegedly broke the law, out of 12 visited.

The operation, led by police working with Council staff and public health, involved two underage volunteers attempting to purchase alcohol from outlets across the district.

Council Environmental Standards Manager Richard Hopkins said controlled purchase operations were held from time to time to check licensed premises were complying with the rules and the conditions of their licences.

“Overall compliance was good, with 11 premises doing the right thing, but we are following up with one business that failed to correctly establish proof of age,” he said.

“The community needs to be confident that the rules for selling alcohol are strictly adhered to and especially that minors are not being supplied with alcohol.

“The rules are there for a reason. While most people drink responsibly, the negative impacts from drinking, including binge drinking, public intoxication, and addiction, have long been a concern in the community. Young people are particularly at risk,” Mr Hopkins said.

Injury, family violence, long-term health issues, road death, crime, and foetal alcohol syndrome are just some of the harms caused by alcohol.

The latest operation focused on off-licences (bottle stores, supermarkets, and grocery stores). Similar operations are held to check compliance by on-licences (eg, pubs, clubs, and bars). Many of the big off-licence operators, like supermarkets, also do their own compliance checks using ‘mystery shoppers’.

“There’s no excuse for failing to check ID, because whenever alcohol is rung up on the till, a reminder to check identification comes up,” Mr Hopkins said.

“The consequences for not complying are serious. Depending on the type of business, it can have its licence suspended for between two and seven days, and the duty manager’s certificate can be suspended for 28 days. This is a meaningful penalty for a business and hopefully incentivises them to stick to the law.”

Councils administer the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 in their areas, including managing applications for alcohol licences, and monitoring and regulating licensed businesses to make sure they’re complying with the law.