Issue date
At the Commodores Conference Northern Region RSO – Hamish Hey ran a workshop on liquor licensing and good practice to try and advise clubs on improving practice and reduce liability on volunteers.
A few weeks ago one of Auckland’s Clubs was the subject of an undercover sting operation by Police and the District Licensing Authority (DLA), and unfortunately the club’s practices were found wanting, resulting in a fine being issued to the club.
There are a number of learning’s for all clubs from this sting and the subsequent discussions the club had with the Police and DLA on best practice.
1) A visitor to your club is the responsibility of the member who signs them in.
- So when the member leaves, the guest must leave also.
- If guest is meeting the member at the club, they can’t be served until the member arrives
- The guest and the member must know each other, you can’t sign random people / prospective members in and leave to their own devices... and staff behind the bar should not be signing in people they do not know.
2) If the guest is a member of another yacht club they do have reciprocal rights if they are visiting the club for the purposes of the sporting activity for which the club has a club licence. So please if you are visiting another club, have your membership card with you – that way you don’t have to be signed in. If your partner/wife is with you and they aren’t a member of a club, they will need to be signed in by the member of the club you are visiting.
3) Most DLA’s / Police will operate a three strike policy over in any two year period.
- Strike 1: A modest fine for the licence holder/club
- Strike 2: Heavy fines for the club, the licence manager and possible suspension of the club licence
- Strike 3 Suspension of club licence for a lengthy period and loss of manager’s licence and fines for staff/volunteers
The important message is that we as members of clubs, need to all do our part...
Those of us who are members need to make sure our guests come with us, are signed in, and leave before or with us.
To have a blasé attitude as a member or guest can cost a club dearly. It puts at risk the club licence and hence the ability for all members and guests to enjoy a drink after sailing. Further, the staff and volunteers who run the bar are exposed to hefty fines, so those folk won’t be willing to do the service for a club that operates with bad practice.
After the fun on the water, remember to respect the privilege that our clubs can serve us a drink and do your bit to help the club operate lawfully under its licence.
