Private university students furious over on-campus accommodation alcohol ban

Private university students are frothing mad about an on-campus alcohol ban - but uni bosses are making no apologies. FULL STORY.

A 'pre-gaming' event in a Halls of Residence common room. Picture: Supplied

Students paying nearly $20,000 a year for accommodation at an elite Gold Coast university are frothing mad about being slapped with a booze bans and confiscations.

But Bond University is making no apologies for its booze blitz on five male-only corridors in student accommodation blocks, claiming out-of-control parties left staff with major clean-ups.

Students reject the claims, and say their rights to enjoy a beer are being trampled on.

A 'pre-gaming' event in a Halls of Residence common room. Picture: Supplied

A student group wishing to remain anonymous claim: “They have made five boy corridors (in a hall of residence) completely dry, which means we can’t drink alcohol in our corridor, which has never been previously an issue.

“They also fined all the residents in those corridors $75 each for what they call excessive cleaning, even though nothing was cleaned. Every single morning after a party I came out and cleaned up everything,” one student claimed.

“There’s been female corridors that do the exact same thing but they didn’t get fined or banned from drinking.”

A corridor in the Halls of Residence. Picture: Supplied

A Bond University statement said implementation of ‘dry corridors’ was temporary.

“We confirm a small group of students misbehaved at the start of the recent semester and have had some privileges withdrawn, including a temporary ban from alcohol in their campus accommodation.”

Another on-campus resident claimed unopened bottles of booze were confiscated.

“It would have to be at least $400 worth of alcohol. They’ve been walking around with garbage bags filled with bottles.

“[They] took a full case of beer from one of our residents, [they] also poured out a full bottle of tequila,” the student claimed.

“[Someone] had an unopened case of beer in the fridge to bring to a mate’s house and that got confiscated, it was completely closed, they just came through and took it.

“One guy came into our corridor and saw my water jug and decided to dip his finger in it and swirl it around so he could taste it and see if it was alcohol and they just left it there.

“If none of us saw that he did that, we would have been drinking his finger water, which is quite disgusting,” they claimed.

Five corridors in the Halls of Residence, notoriously known as 'the Blocks' at Bond University, have had an alcohol ban placed on them as campus staff crack down on parties. Picture: Supplied

An email to students in corridors with alcohol bans reads: “A Security Report has been submitted detailing that large gatherings have occurred and included damage, excessive cleaning and disruptive behaviour in your common room.

“The actions detailed are not consistent with Student Housing behavioural expectations. As a result please note... a $75 cleaning fine has been added to your account for cleaning.

“Your common room and corridor are no longer permitted to hold social gatherings until further notice.

“Your common room and corridor is now ‘dry’ until further notice. If items are found they will be confiscated and discarded,” the email read.

One student said there a recent series of ‘Bondstock’ social events for all students had coincided with bans on “pre-gaming” - otherwise known as pre-drinking.

“We’ve all paid nearly $300 for tickets, but we can’t drink beforehand, they didn’t tell us what they were actually banning us for or what we actually did wrong.

“They just said there was damages and excessive cleaning, even though we didn’t damage anything and there was no excessive cleaning.

“Our corridor is still a mess, the bathrooms haven’t been cleaned in weeks, there’s still vomit on the ground, it’s pretty disgusting,” one student claimed.

One of the students said they used to enjoy campus living: “It’s the hostility, I pay money to live here, and this is supposed to be my home, but I don’t feel comfortable.

“I can’t do what I want to do, I can’t have a beer with dinner if I want to in my own living space. They come through here and they will take it out of my hands and they’ll throw it out,” they said.

According to the Queensland Government tenants, owner-occupiers or lessee-occupiers, must apply to make living quarters ‘dry’.

“You need to fill out a dry place declaration application form and submit it to the Magistrates Court.

“There are no fees. You just need proof you are a tenant, owner-occupier or lessee-occupier. “Once the house is dry place, you must display a sign at each entrance. Signs are available from the local police station,” the government website reads.