Criminology Research Council grant ; (16/91)
This Project arose from the discovery by Council of a high level of concern in the community about alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour. With the assistance of the NSW Police Service, the NSW Health Department's Drug and Alcohol Directorate, the Roads and Traffic Authority, the Eastern Area Health Service and the local community, the Project developed a Responsible Serving of Alcohol Training Package to train the licensees and staff of licensed premises in compliance with the NSW Liquor Act (1982).
The four hour training package was designed to (i) equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to comply with the NSW Liquor Act, and (ii) develop profitable service practices within licensed premises in conjunction with management. In total, training was delivered to five hotels and one licensed club. Night clubs proved impossible to recruit into the project, and other licensed clubs were almost equally resistant.
Evaluation monitored changes in the knowledge of servers, changes in serving practices, changes in management practices, and changes in behaviour of patrons. The results indicated little change in any of these indicators, except an improvement in the knowledge of the Liquor Act demonstrated by bar staff.
The research concluded that the training package is an excellent training resource for the staff of licensed premises. However, unless compliance with the Liquor Act is policed more rigorously, licensees will continue to be reluctant to change current practice.