An issue many Canberrans would have felt strongly about appeared on the bottom of The Canberra Times' front page on this day in 1968 - measures of beer, which differed depending on each different glass size, were not legally specified.
This meant that if someone did not receive a full measure of beer from the bar, the law did not protect that beer drinker, and the provider, whether it be a bar or hotel, was not legally obligated to ensure the measure was correct.
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Neither the ACT Weights and Measures Ordinance nor the ACT Liquor Ordinance specified a particular size for beer glasses.
Canberra Consumers Inc estimated that Aussies could have paid up to $45 million a year, for beer they had not received.
Canberra hotels had served beers with deficiencies of up to 13 per cent in the quantity of beer, Canberra Consumers Inc's estimations showed.
A spokesman for the Department of the Interior said that weights and measures inspectors did not test the volume of beer glasses to ensure the measures were accurate.
"Beer glasses are not measures within the Weights and Measures Ordinance", he said. "They are simply containers."
He said that as the glasses used in Canberra hotels were considered containers, the Liquor Ordinance made no reference to the size of glasses to be used.
A hotels spokesman said any beer drinker who was adamant about receiving a full glass would receive one, but most drinkers preferred their beer to have a "head" anyway.
