Tougher laws for online alcohol sales are needed to prevent under-18s and people with an alcohol dependency from buying liquor at the touch of a button, UNSW public health researchers say.
Buying liquor online is just too easy, new UNSW Sydney research has found.
In an Australian first, public health researchers examined the sales, marketing and delivery practices of the 65 most popular online alcohol retailers in Australia, and the easy access to liquor – for anybody willing to buy it – shocked them.
Drug and Alcohol Review published the research, conducted in mid-2019, this month.
The researchers found 69 per cent of websites would leave alcohol unattended at an address without having verified the purchaser's age; 12 per cent offered delivery within two hours; 13.8 per cent allowed customers to purchase alcohol through a "buy now, pay later" scheme; about 20 per cent offered a 750mL bottle of wine for under $5; 81.5 per cent offered discounts for buying more, and there was no requirement for delivery drivers to hold Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification.
