Responsible Alcohol Serving Policy in Restaurants

This article discusses the responsible alcohol serving policy in restaurants. It covers the rules and regulations for serving alcohol, dress code, non-alcoholic options, and legislative requirements. The article also provides tips for safe drinking practices and recognizable signs of intoxication.

Running head: DIPLOMA OF HOSPITALITY
Diploma of Hospitality
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1DIPLOMA OF HOSPITALITY
RESPONSIBLE ALCOHOL SERVING POLICY
Our Restaurant strive to serve alcohol responsibly and make sure that the guests drink
responsibly as well. The following rules and regulations are the Restaurant’s expectation of
behavior from its guests and one agrees to abide by the rules when entering the premises. Any
breach of the following rules would make the Restaurant bound to take disciplinary actions.
Minors
 Alcohol or alcoholic drinks would not be served to people under the age of 18.
 People procuring alcohol for a minor will be removed from the restaurant.
 One of following approved photo ID is required to be present, on request:
 Australian driver’s license
 Passport
 A government approved age proof card
Risk groups
 The staffs have been trained to identify unduly intoxicated patrons who would not be
served any further.
 Unduly intoxicated guests would be asked to vacate the premises.
 A taxi would be arranged for the unduly intoxicate guests for taking them home, safely.
 The restaurant management strives to take care of it obligations towards every guests.

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Encouragement of Safe Drinking Practices
 The restaurant seeks to advice the guests to drink responsibly and follow the safe
drinking tips:
 Know your alcohol. Identify your consumption threshold. As per the Australian
Guidelines, a healthy adult could drink no more than 4 drinks on a night out.
 Eat before you drink. It is not a wise decision to drink on an empty stomach
(Healthdirect.gov.au, 2018).
 One must slow down the drinking rate by adding some non-alcoholic beverage.
The faster one drinks, the higher his Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). Our
body can has the capacity to process 1 standard alcoholic drink in an hour that
contains 10 grams of ethanol, which is alcohol (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2018).
 Do not drink and drive. It is illegal in Australia to drive with a BAC above 0.00
for a probationary driver (Healthdirect.gov.au, 2018).
Dress Code
The restaurant would strictly follow the following dress code and it reserves the right not
to allow a person to enter for non-compliance of the dress code, on its own discretion.
 Baggy, oversized, worn out, discoloured, stained clothing are strictly not allowed
 Tracksuits, sportswear, fight wears, runners and trainers are not allowed.
 Thongs and slippers are not allowed.
 Facial tattoos are not welcomed.
Behaviour
 We expect good morale and behavior from our guests and it includes:
 Politeness with the staffs and the bartenders.

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 Politeness and good gesture with fellow guests.
 Not to start a quarrel or a fight with anyone inside the premises.
 To respect the privacy of other guests and to abide by the rules and norms of the
restaurant.
 No such appropriate activity that might make other guest uncomfortable.
Non-alcoholic options
The restaurant is happy to announce that it serves an array of non-alcoholic drinks like
Mocktails, Fruit punch, and Soda based thirst quenchers as an alternative to the alcoholic drinks.
Guests are requested to try out some non-alcoholic beverages to keep their BAC within the
permitted threshold.
Refusal of service
The staffs are trainer to detect unduly intoxicated people and are directed by the
management for refusing to serve alcohol to such person until they are fit to consume further.
The restaurant supports the healthy practice and any opposition to such course would be held to
be against the rules of the restaurant. In such case the management would be bound to take
necessary steps against such person.
Recognizable Signs of intoxication
The staff would scrutinize the guests and recognize as to whether they are unduly
intoxicated, by the following criteria:
 Speech: gibberish talks, slurring words, unintelligible sentences, and muddled speech are
the evidences of unduly intoxicated.

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 Balance: trembling feet, bumping into people, uncontrollably swaying, and inability to
walk straight or even stand up are examples of lack of balance and indicates that the
person is unduly intoxicated (Club Training Australia, 2018).
 Behaviour: aggressive, rude and offensive behaviour gives a hint of unduly intoxication
(Legalaid.vic.gov.au, 2018).
 Co-ordination: having an issue with simple sense of judgment, difficulty in paying,
spilling drinks, difficulty to find one’s mouth with the glass, difficulty to open doors are
the signs of drunkenness (Club Training Australia, 2018).
Legislative Requirements
 The Australian Criminal Law reviewed that there are 529 provisions under 115 statutes,
79 regulations and 19 by-laws that identifies and penalizes unduly intoxication.
Therefore, the guests are advised to drink responsibly (Legalaid.vic.gov.au, 2018).
 The restaurant strictly follows the Liquor Act of 2007 of the NSW state legislation. An
alcohol license holder or a staff shall be fined up to $11,000 for serving alcohol further to
an unduly intoxicated person. A patron would be fined up to $1,100 for procuring alcohol
to an unduly intoxicated (Business.qld.gov.au, 2018).
 People caught for drunk driving for the first time might be disqualified from driving from
a period of 3 months to 3 years (Gotocourt.com.au, 2018).
 The novice, special and low range PCA offences would attract a suspension of
license for 6 months and a fine up to $1,100.
 The mid-range PCA offences to have 12 months of suspension from driving and a
fine up to $2,200.

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 While the high range offence cancels the driving license for 3 years and a fine up
to $3,300.
 Penalties for further drunk driving offences include:
 Up to 12 months of disqualification from driving and a fine up to $2,200 for the
novice, special and low range PCA offences.
 Up to 3 years of driving license cancellation and a maximum fine up to $3,300 for
mid-range PCA offences.
 Up to 5 years of disqualification from driving and a fine up to $5,500 for high
range PCA offences (Gotocourt.com.au, 2018).
Consequences
The restaurant shall be bound to follow the provisions of the Liquor Act of 2007 for a
better enforcement of the rules and regulations. The management shall be bound to call the
police and hand over an unduly intoxicated for extreme unruly behaviour or for causing damage
to the property. The restaurant shall hold the right to sue the patron for recovering any
outstanding payment or damages.

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References
Business.qld.gov.au. (2018). Penalties for irresponsible service of alcohol | Business
Queensland. [online] Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/hospitality-
tourism-sport/liquor-gaming/liquor/compliance/fines-penalties/irresponsible-service [Accessed 5
Dec. 2018].
Club Training Australia. (2018). RSA and intoxication in NSW - Club Training Australia.
[online] Available at: https://clubtraining.com.au/rsa-and-intoxication-in-nsw/ [Accessed 5 Dec.
2018].
Gotocourt.com.au. (2018). Drink Driving in New South Wales. [online] Available at:
https://www.gotocourt.com.au/drink-driving/nsw/dui-penalties/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].
Healthdirect.gov.au. (2018). Top 7 tips for safe drinking. [online] Available at:
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/top-7-tips-for-safe-drinking [Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].
Legalaid.vic.gov.au. (2018). Public drunkenness | Victoria Legal Aid. [online] Available at:
https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/find-legal-answers/criminal-offences/public-drunkenness
[Accessed 5 Dec. 2018].