P. Rydon et al., PSEUDO-DRUNK-PATRON EVALUATION OF BAR-STAFF COMPLIANCE WITH WESTERN-AUSTRALIAN LIQUOR LAW, Australian and New Zealand journal of public health, 20(3), 1996, pp. 290-295
Compliance of bar staff with the Western Australian liquor law prohibi
ting service to drunk patrons was assessed through the deployment of a
ctors trained to behave in a drunken manner. The serving practices of
23 licensed premises (19 hotels and four nightclubs) were examined. Du
ring 120 visits to hotel and nightclub bars, more than 350 drink order
s were placed by pairs of pseudo-drunk actors who ordered up to three
drinks each on each visit On placing these drink orders, pseudo-drunks
were refused service by bar staff on only 12 occasions. The rate of r
efusal of service across all premises was 10 per cent of visits. Parti
al interventions by servers, such as offering food or low-alcohol. or
nonalcoholic drinks, occurred in only four instances of the 120 visits
. Qualitative observations and results obtained from a separate study
examining a sub sample of the servers who trained in responsible servi
ce of alcohol are discussed.