It’s quite rightly something that you’ll have done as a ‘set-and-forget’ but now is the time to make absolutely sure that your alcohol measurements are correct as the National Measurement Institute has announced a one-week blitz across Australia.
The week-long national audit program started yesterday (19 August) and runs until Saturday, 24 August and will include 650 licensed premises around the country. General Manager for Legal Metrology at NMI Bill Loizides said that the blitz and Australia’s trade measurement laws help consumers have confidence they are getting what they pay for in terms of weight, volume or number.
“We have put hotels, bars and clubs on notice, and they can expect a rigorous but fair approach during the inspections conducted by the National Measurement Institute,” Loizides said.
“Australians should be able to feel confident that they are getting what they pay for when buying drinks during a night out or Sunday lunch at the club. As a result NMI has included a focused national audit of licensed premises as part of its 2019-20 compliance activities.
“While we recognise that most businesses want to do the right thing, there are penalties for businesses that breach the law.”
One of the main areas that the NMI has said it has found issues around compliance in the past is spirit dispensers, with inaccuracies ranging from 4 per cent of inspected dispensers in 2015-16 to 6.6 per cent in 2016-17 and 3.1 per cent in 2017-18.
Michael Silver, CEO of UberBarTools, told Bars and Clubs: “The NMI’s national compliance campaign sends an important industry message to rigorously maintain standards.
“When consumers feel they’ve not been correctly served, trust in those businesses and their supporting brands is undermined.”
There are also concerns that licensed premises using non-standard glassware, such as mason jars, to serve beer may not be complying with requirements to use and advertise accurate volume measurements.
NMI can issue infringement notices with fines of $1,050 per offence. If the case is serious enough for a prosecution, the maximum fines are $210,000 per offence as a company or $42,000 per offence as an individual.
