Harm minimisation strategies for liquor accords and safe night precinct local boards

Enhancing communication between venues can improve the safety and amenity within a local area. Communication networks can help deal with unruly patrons and provide warnings about incidents or troublesome patrons who may be moving between venues.

Options to enhance communication include networked radio systems—as implemented by the Hervey Bay liquor accord and Bundaberg safe night precinct—or free messaging apps available on smart phones.

For more information, email Rewald.SusanM@police.qld.gov.au.

You can play an important role in promoting safer gambling practices and reducing gambling-related harm in your community.

The When gambling took over... campaign aims to:

• raise awareness of the signs of gambling harm
• reduce stigma through storytelling
• encourage gamblers experiencing harm to seek help.

It includes free downloadable posters and a stakeholder kit containing content for newsletters and social media that can be shared among networks.

You can organise safer gambling network meetings in conjunction with your local Gambling Help Service (GHS) provider. These forums provide opportunities to discuss important issues related to gambling harm minimisation and learn more about the services offered by GHS providers.

Licensees and their staff have a legal responsibility to:

• prevent underage people (unless exempt) from entering their licensed premises
• refuse to sell alcohol to minors.

Your members can support campaigns such as What are you really buying them? to help educate staff and customers about the potential consequences of supplying minors alcohol.

Read more about minors and underage drinking on licensed premises and the exemptions for some minors.

A patron banning policy can reduce inappropriate behaviour, including acts of violence, in your area.

Read about how one liquor accord introduced a banning system to improve safety.

Read more about banning problem patrons.

Patron safety campaigns like Ask for Angela and the OzAngel program help patrons who feel vulnerable, threatened or unsafe while out with friends, on a date or on their own. These initiatives are easy to adopt, support an excellent cause and generally require little to no funding.

You can also develop your own unique campaigns targeting patron safety such as the Townsville liquor accord's domestic and family violence campaign, Is your relationship ticking the right boxes?.

Read a newsletter article about the OzAngels campaign.

Licensees and their staff have an obligation to ensure the Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) for the safe and compliant operation of licensed venues.

Adopt the Follow the law campaign to help ensure your members comply with RSA requirements. The campaign includes free refresher courses and downloadable posters to display.

Strategies like Heroes do zero aim to reduce alcohol-impaired driving by rewarding or incentivising drivers who don't consume alcohol on a night out.

Programs such as Drink Rite demonstrate why alcohol and driving don't mix.

You can also develop other strategies to promote road safety, for example offering discounted meals or non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers.

Liquor accords have developed many successful harm minimisation initiatives to educate school students. The Think the Drink campaign was originally developed by the Goondiwindi liquor accord and has since been adopted by many others. The initiative provides alcohol awareness to school leavers. Its topics include:

• acceptable behaviour in licensed venues
• obligations of staff and patrons
• information on standard drinks and intoxication levels.

Variations to this initiative have also provided opportunities for participants to be awarded RSA training certificates, opening the door to future employment opportunities.