As of 18 January 2013, a new liquor licensing mandatory general code of practice came into play in South Australia. This is a state government liquor licensing requirement, not a Good Sports requirement. It requires all licensed clubs to assess the risks associated with the service of alcohol, while ensuring people serving alcohol better understand their obligations. Failure to comply with a provision in the General Code of Practice will be a breach of licence condition and may result in disciplinary action or prosecution against the licensee, Responsible Person and/or other persons in accordance with the Liquor Licensing Act 1997.

1a. Written Management Plan:

A mandatory requirement of the new code (regardless of your licence type) is to produce a written management plan showing how your club identifies and mitigates risks associated with your licence. This plan must be incorporated into any bar staff/volunteer induction and refresher training (not to be confused with RSA training). This training will be in proportion to the risks, size and scope of your club’s operations (and may be quite informal for many smaller clubs). 

All licensed clubs will need to have a written management plan in place by 18 April 2013. This requirement is further explained within the Code of Practice guidelines in the following link: http://www.olgc.sa.gov.au/Liquor/Licensees_Obligations/Code_of_Practice/GCOPGuidelines.pdf

1b. Management Plan template (developed by Good Sports):

To help sporting clubs comply with this mandatory new code of practice requirement, Good Sports has developed a user friendly management plan template that your club can consider using (see attached). NOTE: Clubs are not obliged to use this template, and whether you use this template or not, we still recommend that you refer to the Code of Practice guidelines provided in the link above. You must make this template relevant to your own club, by reviewing the template and personalising the examples & information within it to ensure it accurately reflects the risks and measures relevant to your club.

2. Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) training:

Under the new code, RSA training is now mandatory for any persons serving and supplying alcohol at venues operating under a CLUB LICENCE

NOTE: venues with a LIMITED CLUB LICENCE are generally exempt from this RSA requirement. 

Clubs will be allowed 12 months to train any existing bar staff/volunteers in RSA and three months to train any new bar servers. Regardless of whether your liquor licence type is exempted or not, Good Sports urges your club to gradually RSA train your bar servers. As the committee is directly responsible for anything that happens at the bar, training all bar servers in RSA will help minimise any risk and potential liability to you, volunteers, patrons or your club. 

A Good Sports representative can further discuss the new code of practice when they meet to progress your clubs next level of Good Sports accreditation. However, if you require further information or clarification about the new liquor licensing code of practice (and your clubs compliance) please contact Consumer and Business Services (CBS) directly on: 13 18 82 or visit their website: www.cbs.sa.gov.au