Minors’ booze, big issue
AROUND 80 per cent of sporting clubs illegally sell alcohol to minors, new research has revealed.
The alarming figure has prompted the expansion of a Barwon, Child, Youth and Family-backed alcohol monitoring program to local sporting clubs.
The Communities that Care smart generation program has successfully monitored the sale of alcohol to minors at Geelong liquor outlets since 2016.
Since the program’s rollout, sale of alcohol to minors in Geelong’s northern suburbs has already dropped 13 per cent.
Program co-ordinator Louise McDonald said monitoring alcohol sales was a core aspect of the program and a significant deterrent to selling liquor to young people without asking for ID.
While results suggest liquor outlets increasingly comply with the law and refuse to sell alcohol to underage youth, local sporting clubs remain an accessible point of supply.
According to BCYF, initial monitoring indicates more than 80 per cent of sporting clubs sell alcohol to young people without asking for ID.
“Thanks to support from the Alcohol Drug Foundation’s Barwon local drug action team, we are expanding our successful supply monitoring activities into sporting clubs to help them better manage alcohol and re- duce the supply of liquor to underage people,” Ms McDonald said.
The expanded program has been welcomed by Geelong West Giants members Gareth Drennan and Michelle Abbott.
“We want to be a commun- ity, not just a club,” Mr Drennan said.
“We are working to shift the focus of our club events away from alcohol to become more inclusive of family and the whole community.”
Deakin health psychology Professor John Toumbourou said the project supported the nation’s alcohol health guidelines.
“The earlier a young person starts drinking, the more likely they are to have impaired brain development and alcohol problems later in life,” Prof Toumbourou said.
Ms McDonald said she hoped the project would also encourage parents to prevent their children from consuming alcohol before they reached adulthood.