Germany’s beer purity law

NATIONAL

New Ministers for Liquor, Gaming & Racing

Germany’s beer purity law

As recently reported by Liquor, Gaming NSW, following the NSW election in March, Victor Dominello has been sworn in as the Minister for Customer Service and is responsible for liquor and gaming legislation, with Kevin Anderson being sworn in as the Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, and is responsible for racing legislation.

Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW), the Office of Racing, and the Office of Responsible Gambling will become part of the newly created Department of Customer Service.

The new department includes the NSW Government’s Behavioural Insights function, Data Analytics Centre and Service NSW, enabling L&GNSW to leverage these key capabilities to boost the digital strategy and risk-based regulatory approach. The move to Customer Service will put L&GNSW at the centre of the Government’s drive to see NSW become a world leader in digital technology and customer service.

As part of a reconfiguring of the public service following the election, senior executive roles have been consolidated. As a result, there is no longer a standalone Deputy Secretary for Liquor, Gaming & Racing, the role held by Paul Newson.

Paul is currently assisting the Department of Customer Service’s senior executive team to support the integration into the new cluster and will remain a Trustee of the NSW Responsible Gambling Fund. Paul is a highly regarded senior public servant and has achieved much during his time as Deputy Secretary, including positioning L&GNSW as an internationally leading regulator. Paul is looking forward to the next phase in his career, including options to continue to advance regulatory policy and practice and contribute to public service leadership.

From Monday 1 July, Rose Webb, Deputy Secretary of the Better Regulation Division in the Department of Customer Service, will have responsibility for Liquor, Gaming & Racing.

The Executive Director roles have also been consolidated. Natasha Mann, currently the Executive Director for Regulatory Policy & Strategy will become the Executive Director of Liquor, Gaming & Racing from 1 July. Charlie Dowsett, currently the Executive Director of Regulatory Operations, will remain until 1 July.

Five hundred years ago, in April 1516, Germany introduced a Beer Purity Law under which beer can only be made from water, malt and hops.

Known as the Reinheitsgebot or “purity order”, it was originally brought into effect in Bavaria for health and economic reasons. From a health perspective, it was designed to stop the use of herbs, some of them poisonous, in brewing. Economically its restricted brewing to barley, so that there was enough wheat and rye in the nation to produce bread.

Germans, it could be argued, were the original hipsters, craft beer makers well before their time.

To this day some believe German beer tastes different and cleaner than that produced in the rest of the world due to the restricted ingredients, which forces producers to search for only the highest quality water, malt and hops. By comparison Australia, where Captain James Cook is said to have introduced beer to “preserve water”, permits additives such as antioxidants, colouring and flavouring agents, foam stabilisers and preservatives.

While Germany’s Beer Purity Law was slightly amended at the end of the 19th century to also allow yeast, this strict law, one of the oldest food regulations in the world, still stands today.

NATIONAL Induction — why it’s a good start

A well-designed employee induction program not only saves you money and time in the long term but avoids money being spent on covering absences and hiring replacements.

When organisations do not provide a structured induction, it means the new employees are left to pick up the necessary information on their own.

This can lead to new employees not learning the “right” way of doing things, loss of productivity and serious issues such as safety and other compliance breaches.

New employees who are part of a well-structured onboarding orientation program are 69% more likely to remain at a company for up to three years.

A poor onboarding program often leads to losing an employee due to their experiences of being confused, feeling alienated, or lacking confidence. Benefits of induction programs include: • Workplace safety • Increased retention rate • Improved employee morale • Increased productivity • Understanding of the laws and codes that they need to operate/perform to.

Your induction program should include: • Policies and procedures • Face-to-face introduction to key staff • Tour of the workplace, pointing out important facilities • Safety and emergency procedures • Instructions on how to complete day-to-day tasks in a safe manner.

5 REASONS INDUCTION TRAINING IS ESSENTIAL

Workplace culture

New employees need to align and understand your workplace culture. By doing so they will ‘fit’ into the team and work more cohesively.

Compliance

Train employees about your company policies on safety, bullying, sexual harassment, and other critical policies. This will help to protect the business by preventing incidents and ensure your business is compliant.

Retention

Inductions programs help employees to adjust to their new role and make a smoother transition into the business. This ultimately helps the retention of employees and saves on recruitment costs and helps employees to feel supported.

Productivity

Employees learn the right way of doing things from the beginning, instead of being shown shortcuts.

Saves time and money

Saves your business time and money in the long term as a well-developed induction program can be easily replicated for each new employee.

There are training systems available to automate this process and new learning modules can be added as required. At MGA we offer the MTS – an online training system – that can be tailored to meet your business operations. We offer support for not only the initial induction program but throughout your employees’ journey with you.

The system tracks your employee’s progression with induction modules but alerts you when they need to update their certificates (if required).

So, before you hire the next “crew” have a plan in place to ensure that this group of employees have a good start.

For your tailored induction program, contact MGA Industry Training on 1800 888 479 today.

VICTORIA

I SAW THE SIGN — new signs to help explain liquor laws

A series of new signs will help licensees and staff explain Victoria’s liquor laws to customers.

Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 LIQUOR LICENSING LAW

Liquor Control Reform Act 1998

LIQUOR LICENSING LAW Intoxicated? Drunk? Disorderly? It is against the law: • for a licensee to supply liquor to an intoxicated person Penalty exceeds $19,000 • for a licensee to allow a drunk or disorderly person on the premises Penalty exceeds $19,000 • for a drunk, violent or quarrelsome person to refuse a request to leave a licensed premises Penalty exceeds $8,000 www.vcglr.vic.gov.au LIQUOR LICENSING LAW Under 18? No supply*It is against the law:• for a licensee to sell liquor to under 18s Penalty exceeds $19,000• for any person to supply liquor to under 18s Penalty exceeds $19,000• for under 18s to purchase, receive, possess or consume liquor Penalty exceeds $800 Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 We accept the following ID: Staff have the right to request ID * Exceptions apply www.vcglr.vic.gov.au VCGLR0042018V1 Proof of age card Australian driver licence Victorian learner permit Keypass card Australian or foreign passport Do not attempt to buy liquor for under 18s It is against the law: • for any person to supply liquor to under 18s* • for a licensee to supply liquor to under 18s Penalty exceeds $19,000 *Exceptions apply We accept the following ID: Staff have the right to request ID www.vcglr.vic.gov.au VCGLR0012018V1 Proof of age card Australian driver licence Victorian learner permit Keypass card Australian or foreign passport

VCGLR0022018V1

The signs, which have recently been released by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR), focus on the theme of young people and alcohol.

Topics for the new signs were determined following a VCGLR survey of licensees who were asked for feedback on what subjects would be most useful for staff at their premises.

By far the most popular topic was the purchasing of liquor for minors. Packaged liquor licence holders in particular need to be careful when it comes to parents or adults who may be buying liquor for those who are underage. Secondary supply is a serious offence under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998.

The second sign is also on the theme of young people and alcohol. It states that if a customer looks under the age of 25, staff will request to see identification. Feedback from licensees suggests that staff at times can feel uncomfortable requesting identification from someone who they believe to be under the age of 25. This new sign will help inform customers about what they should expect when purchasing liquor as well as support staff to be more confident in asking for identification. Although the new signs are optional, MGA recommends to all members that they take advantage of their messaging and display them in store along with their mandatory signage.

The new signs are now available for download on the VCGLR website along with a number of other optional signs and other resources to help your staff and customers understand and explain Victorian liquor laws.

If you have any queries regarding liquor signs or any other liquor licensing enquiries, contact the MGA national helpline on 1800 888 479 or visit vcglr.vic.gov.au.