Coast Bar owner fined: underage work experience girls `pressured’ to serve alcohol
The manager of Coast Bar & Restaurant has been slapped with nearly $20,000 in fines and legal costs after using two school girls on work experience to serve alcohol.
Central Coast
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The manager of Coast Bar & Restaurant has been slapped with nearly $20,000 in fines and legal costs after using two school girls on work experience to serve alcohol.
Alain Alpha was convicted of two counts of allowing minors to serve liquor and two counts of allowing an employee to sell liquor without Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification.
The girls were on a work experience placement in October 2017 and told staff they were underage and not allowed to serve alcohol but were forced to deliver drinks.
The incident came to light when the girls discussed what they had done on work experience with their teacher at the end of their placements.
The school raised the incident with Liquor & Gaming NSW, which launched an investigation and a review of the bar’s CCTV footage.
In the footage played in the Downing Centre Local Court the girls, then aged 16 and 17, were seen to take trays of alcohol from the bar to serve patrons.
One of the girls, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Express Advocate they were pressured into serving the drinks.
“They asked us in an interview before we started, they asked if we were under age and if we had our RSA,” she said.
“We were 16 and 17 at the time ... you don’t say ‘no’ and it was a busy day. The drinks were up on the bar. The staff were a bit snappy and we felt we couldn’t say no.”
This was despite conditions of the work placement that prevented the girls from serving alcohol.
After Liquor & Gaming charged Alpha with four breaches of alcohol laws the two girls were summonsed to give evidence at a hearing.
“I got a subpoena in the mail,” the girl said.
“It was very nerve wracking.”
She said she was cross examined on the stand by Alpha’s defence solicitor for about half an hour.
“The licensee should know the rules,” she said.
“He blamed it on other people. We saw him there every day but he didn’t introduce himself. It was only when we went to the Downing Centre did I realise he was the owner.”
Liquor & Gaming NSW compliance operations director Sean Goodchild said the incident showed a brazen disregard for measures that are meant to protect people from alcohol-related harm.
“Having minors serve alcohol without permission or the right training is highly irresponsible and puts both patrons and the young people at risk,” Mr Goodchild said.
“Responsible service of alcohol is non-negotiable in licensed venues, regardless of whether someone is on work experience or a full-time employee.”
Under NSW liquor laws, it is illegal for minors to serve alcohol at a licensed venue unless approved by the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority.
The laws also require that staff have relevant competency cards or RSA certificates to serve alcohol.
Magistrate Georgina Darcy convicted and fined Alpha $2,500 and ordered him to pay more than $17,000 in legal costs.
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