Bondi’s Liquorland Closed After Selling Alcohol to a Minor

The NSW Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) has closed Bondi Junction’s Liquorland for 14 days, after it was caught selling alcohol to minors.

This is the first time a major supermarket chain has been closed for such an offence.

Liquorland in Eastgate Shopping Centre was found selling alcohol to a 16 year old using a 22 year old man’s expired driver’s licence. According to OLGR, the licence clearly did not match the 16 year old.

“No liquor licence holder is immune to our liquor laws”, Deputy Premier and Minister for Justice and Police, Troy Grant said.

“The government is constantly running operations to crack down on the sale of liquor to minors, it’s just not worth the risk”, Mr. Grant added.

“I have a simple message for licensees – if they look younger than me, ask for ID.”

The store was closed on Monday and the bottle shop and employee were each fined $1,100.

A Liquorland spokesperson said in a statement that the company “takes the responsible service of alcohol very seriously, and we regret that in this instance our standards have not been upheld.

“We conduct rigorous training of our 3600 team members on ID requirements, and this is reinforced by regular messaging at a store level.

“We have taken significant steps to address the issues raised by the OLGR, including further training of team members at the Bondi Junction Liquorland store on the responsible sale of alcohol, increasing staff numbers at peak times and installing additional CCTV cameras to improve visibility around the store.

“We are also conducting a random audit of ID checks in Sydney stores and are working with other retailers and local police via the Eastern Suburbs Liquor Accord to counter alcohol-related violence and the secondary supply of alcohol to minors,” the retailer said.

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