With New Year's Eve celebrations in full swing on Saturday, criminal lawyers from Slater and Gordon have put together a guide to alcohol laws around the country, including drinking in public, drunk and disorderly and offensive language offences.
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Slater and Gordon criminal lawyer Veronika Drago said the laws varied from state to state, with maximum penalties of thousands of dollars in fines and even jail time for some offences.
In the ACT and NSW , it's not an offence to be merely drunk in public. You must also be behaving in a disorderly or offensive manner, as well as being intoxicated, to be charged with an offence.
The ACT and NSW permit the drinking of alcohol in public places, except areas that have been declared "alcohol-free zones".
In the ACT, consuming or possessing open containers of alcohol is also unlawful at all bus stations and interchanges as well as any place within 50m of a bus station or interchange as well as any shop or licensed premises. Fines up to $750 apply and the alcohol can be seized.
But there is another way to avoid being arrested on New Year's Eve: just keep yourself nice.
For the full info keep reading...
Question: Is it an offence to merely be drunk in public?
· It is a criminal offence to simply be drunk in a public place in Victoria and Queensland, with maximum fines of $1243.68 and $243.80 respectively.
· In every other state and territory, a person must be behaving in a disorderly or offensive manner as well as being intoxicated to be charged with an offence.
· Disorderly and nuisance offences carry fines in every state and even jail sentences in extreme cases in Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Question: How drunk is "criminally intoxicated"?
· In most states, the legal definition of "drunk" or "intoxicated" is when a person's speech, balance, co-ordination or behaviour is noticeably affected or impaired by alcohol.
· The threshold is apparently lower in Queensland, where being intoxicated is defined as simply being drunk or otherwise adversely affected by an intoxicating substance, rather than noticeably affected as in other states.
Question: Is it illegal to drink or have open containers of alcohol in public?
· Revellers hoping to enjoy a glass of champagne at a New Year's Eve picnic should double and triple check the state and council laws that regulate the public consumption of alcohol, because they vary significantly around the country.
o NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, ACT and NT all permit the drinking of alcohol in public places, except areas that have been declared 'alcohol-free zones'.
o In Queensland and Western Australia, there is a blanket ban on drinking or possessing open containers of alcohol in public, unless the area has been designated as a 'wet area' in Queensland or the relevant authority has given permission in WA.
· Fines for public consumption of alcohol also vary significantly from state-to state.
o Victoria is at the lower end of the scale, where officials simply direct people to stop drinking, seal their containers or dispose of their alcohol.
· SA, WA and NT are at the higher end of the scale, with maximum fines of $1250, $2000 and $15,400 respectively. Additionally, entire communities are dry in the Northern Territory.
