Under-18s at licensed venues or locations

The legal drinking age in Victoria is 18 years. Anyone under 18 is considered a minor.

It is against the law to:

• supply alcohol to a minor
• allow a minor to be given alcohol or drink alcohol at a licensed venue or location
• sell alcohol to a customer if you suspect they will give it to a minor. This is called secondary supply.

There are serious penalties for breaching these laws, including fines of more than $24,000.

Find out how to check IDs to identify minors.

Minors at licensed venues

A minor is allowed at a licensed venue if they are in the company of a responsible adult.

Unaccompanied minors

If a minor is not in the company of a responsible adult they are called an unaccompanied minor.

Unaccompanied minors can be at your licensed venue if any of these apply:

• Your licence has a condition that allows minors to be there (for example, you might be a junior sports club with a restricted club licence).
• You have a restaurant and cafe licence or an on-premises licence with restaurant conditions (until 11 pm).
• The minor is having a meal.
• The minor is staying at the accommodation, if the licensed location is an accommodation provider.
• The minor is employed by the licensee but not involved in the supply of alcohol.
• The minor is completing an approved training course in hospitality that we have approved.

Compliance checklist

Check if you are doing these things to help you comply with the law:

• Our staff check ID for anyone who looks under 25.
• Our staff know about the approved forms of ID, including security staff.
• Our staff check for fake IDs and know what to do if an ID is fake.
• Our staff look who is in the group to see if anyone looks under 18 before we serve or sell alcohol.
• Our staff check outside to see if any people who may be under 18 are waiting nearby.
• Our delivery drivers ask for ID when required.
• Our venue or location has a ‘we don’t deliver to minors‘ message on our website.
• We follow the Responsible Alcohol Advertising and Promotion Guidelines:

• Our advertising or promotion of alcohol does not encourage under-age drinking or use images of people drinking alcohol who are, or appear to be, under 18 years.