Menulog is proud to offer its customers the greatest choice of cuisines and meals, delivered either by our restaurant partners and their drivers or by our network of couriers on the Menulog Delivery Service by our network of courier partners. As part of our commitment to choice, many of our restaurant partners are able to offer alcoholic beverages to their menus. N.B. Menulog is not currently able to facilitate alcohol deliveries in NSW.
However, the health and safety of our entire network is our top priority and as such, it is essential that any alcoholic beverage is delivered responsibly and in line with Government legislation.
These laws are in place to help protect the community and when it comes to delivery, it’s especially important to be aware of three key rules:
Legal Drinking Age: The legal drinking age in Australia is 18, which means any courier or restaurant’s-own driver delivering alcohol has the legal obligation to check that a customer is over the age of 18 before providing them with an order containing alcohol
Intoxication: It is illegal to provide alcohol to anyone that is already drunk
Secondary supply: It is illegal to provide alcohol to someone who may then give it to a minor (someone under the age of 18)
It is important to pay very close attention to all orders that come through and take the appropriate steps to ensure that any orders that contain alcohol are fulfilled safely and lawfully.
Liquor Licences in Australia
There are many different types of Liquor Licences in Australia and it is important to ensure you have the appropriate documentation to be able to sell alcohol via your restaurant listing on Menulog. It is an offence to sell alcohol without a valid licence and so it is very important for you to keep your documentation up to date.
Temporary licences granted amid COVID-19
Amid COVID-19, many State Governments have made temporary changes to Liquor Licencing regulation that enables some restaurants with on-premise licences to now sell takeaway liquor. However, there are limitations on what can be sold under these licences.
To ensure compliance with all State Government regulations for selling alcohol under a temporary licence, all alcoholic beverages sold via Menulog must be sold with food.
We have also implemented a mandatory limit of one bottle/can of beer and one bottle/can of a premixed alcoholic beverage per one person meal combo and a limit of one bottle of wine per multi-person meal combo.
To help ensure community safety, if you notice multiple orders for alcohol placed by the same customer, please contact Menulog immediately via your Orderpad device or call 1300 664 335.
Alcohol order stickers and communicating with couriers
If your restaurant uses the Menulog Delivery Service, you must include the below sticker on any order that contains alcohol and ensure the courier is told that the order contains alcohol. This will help protect your business, the courier and customers. If you run out of stickers, please email [email protected].
Packaging alcohol
Please remember to package alcohol separately to any hot food. This will ensure items in the combo remain at their optimum temperature on arrival. This will also allow the Menulog courier or your restaurant’s driver to easily separate alcohol from food, in the event they are unable to supply the alcohol part of the order (for example, if the customer does not have a valid ID or is deemed to be intoxicated.
Collection orders
If you have alcohol available for collection orders, you and your restaurant staff are also responsible for not providing alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, anyone that may supply the alcohol to a minor (secondary supply) or that is intoxicated. Please carefully review the guidance below on how to do this.
Tips for restaurants with their own drivers
To help ensure community safety, Menulog has developed some helpful guidance for restaurant drivers when delivering alcohol orders:
How to check customer identification
Australian State Governments state that you should check ID for any customers who appear to be 25 years or younger and confirm they are over 18. This includes any person on the premises that appears to be under 25 years of age. Here’s how:
- Look at their Government-issued ID card and confirm the photo matches the customer to ensure it is the same person
- Make sure the ID card is valid – both the type of ID and date – and ensure the date of birth displayed is more than 18 years ago
- Make sure the ID is legitimate and includes features such as a hologram – beware of fake IDs or IDs that do not match the customer in person
How to check ID contact-free
Social-distancing remains very important amid the COVID-19 situation. It is important that your driver continues to practice contact-free collections and deliveries, with a minimum distance of 1.5m between yourself, restaurant staff and customers.
In order to check ID, while keeping a safe distance, we recommend you inform your driver to:
1. Ring the doorbell or knock to let the customer know you have arrived and step back a safe distance
2. When you sight the customer, ask them to provide a valid ID by holding this out to you. If you cannot see the details, please as the customer to place the ID down and step back a safe distance
3. Confirm the ID is valid and place the order down, before leaving the premises
What is an acceptable form of identification?
All identification must be in its original form – no photocopies or photos should be accepted. The following identification can be accepted when delivery alcohol:
- Australian State or Territory driver’s license (licence card or digital licence – NSW only)
- Australian State or Territory issued learner’s permit
- Proof of age card
- Keypass card
- Australian or foreign passport
What happens if the customer does not have a valid ID?
If the customer cannot produce a valid form of ID, or, your driver has asked one of more others on site to produce a valid ID and they cannot, we recommend you inform your driver to tell the customer they cannot provide them alcohol due to the fact they could not produce a valid form of identification and that they will be returning the product to your restaurant, before departing. Please contact Menulog when they return to facilitate a customer refund.
What happens if the customer is intoxicated?
It is illegal to supply alcohol to anyone that appears to be intoxicated. Some signs of intoxication or ‘being drunk’ are:
- Slurred speech; too loud or too fast
- Lack of coordination and weakened balance
- Staggering walk or inability to walk
- Slower reaction times
- Smells of alcohol
If your driver judges a person to be intoxicated, we recommend you inform your driver to tell the customer they cannot provide them alcohol due to the fact they believe them to be intoxicated and that they will be returning the product to your restaurant, before departing. Please contact Menulog when they return to facilitate a customer refund.
What happens if the customer does not answer or is not home?
If your driver cannot deliver the alcohol, they must return it to the restaurant by the same process listed above.
What happens if the alcohol is with a food order, but the customer does not have a valid ID or appears intoxicated?
Your driver can provide the customer with the food portion of the order (although this is up to you), however you must return the alcohol to the restaurant / store by the same process listed above.
For any further questions, please contact [email protected]; our team is here to help!
The information provided on this site is general in nature only and is not legal or business advice. For full site disclaimer please click here.