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Underage drinking in private homes

You could face a large fine if you supply alcohol to an under-18 in your home without their parent or guardian's consent.

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

It is against the law to provide alcohol to minors in licensed venues.

Strict rules apply for providing alcohol to minors in private homes.

You could be fined more than $24,000 if you do not comply.

Providing alcohol in your home

It is legal to provide alcohol to a minor in a private home if:

  • you are the minor's parent or legal guardian or you have the parent or guardian's consent (permission) to provide alcohol
  • the minor's alcohol drinking is supervised by a responsible adult.

These laws, part of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998, help ensure parents and legal guardians:

  • are involved in how their child is supplied alcohol in someone else's home
  • know that their child is not drinking alcohol, without their knowledge, when visiting friends' houses.

Before you provide alcohol to a minor in your home, you must get:

  • the consent of the minor's parent or legal guardian (if that's not you)
  • consent in writing or verbally.

It can be as simple as a note saying 'I give consent for my son <name> to drink alcohol at <name of adult>'s house'.

Without consent, if you provide alcohol to a minor in your home you could be fined more than $24,000.

Responsible supervision

The law requires an adult to responsibly supervise the minor drinking alcohol.

This is to ensure that drinking is done responsibly and with minimal risk of alcohol-related harm.

By law, the supervising adult (aged 18 or older) must be:

  • the parent, guardian or spouse of the minor or have their permission to provide alcohol to the minor.
  • able to demonstrate that they can responsibly supervise minors drinking alcohol.

To demonstrate responsible supervision, the adult must actively consider:

  • the age of the minor
  • whether the adult supplying the alcohol is intoxicated
  • whether the minor is eating food with the alcohol
  • whether the person supplying alcohol is supervising the minor’s alcohol intake
  • the quantity and type of alcohol supplied
  • the period of time in which the alcohol is supplied
  • whether the person under 18 is intoxicated.

This becomes important when applying the law.

For example, if police are called to attend a party with under 18s, the supervising adult may be penalised if they cannot prove they considered these factors when providing alcohol.

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