Strengthen consumer protections for online sale and home delivery of alcohol

Key takeaways

> Alcohol is more accessible than ever before, with liquor regulation lagging behind technology that has turned every phone into a bottle shop.

> Rapid delivery is associated with excessive and high-risk alcohol consumption, and late-night delivery is associated with alcohol-involved family violence. 

> To reduce alcohol harms including family violence, implement a 2-hour safety pause between the time of online order and when it is dispatched (i.e. released from the retailer for delivery), and further limit delivery hours to between 10am–10pm.

Alcohol has never been more easily accessible and Australians are drinking at increasingly dangerous levels

Alcohol turnover in Victoria totalled $16.9 billion in 2024,¹ and is expected to grow 1.6% annually.² This has occurred in the context of the online sale and rapid home delivery of alcohol having increased high-risk alcohol consumption.³ 

This danger is demonstrated by the tragic death of Victorian woman Kathleen Arnold, who in the 6 months prior to her alcohol poisoning death was able to place 213 online alcohol orders, with a total of 319 alcohol products delivered to her home.⁴

Likewise, a man in New South Wales died after three bottles of wine were delivered to his home almost every day in the weeks before his death. The deliveries continued even when two identical orders were placed within ten minutes of each other and despite the fact all deliveries were made by the same retailer.⁵

Rapid and late-night alcohol deliveries are fuelling harms

Rapid alcohol delivery means people can receive their online orders in as little as half an hour. This encourages impulse purchasing, with those using rapid delivery alcohol services more likely to drink more frequently and engage in binge drinking.⁶ Rapid alcohol delivery is also used as a way to quickly replenish alcohol supply, with 1 in 5 recent online alcohol customers reporting they have used an online alcohol delivery service to extend a home drinking session because they had run out of alcohol.⁷ A third of these people also indicated they would have stopped drinking if the service was not available.⁸ This is concerning because we know people who are intoxicated have impaired decision-making and are likely to order and consume more alcohol than they would if not intoxicated.

While there are a range of risk factors for family violence and alcohol consumption is no excuse for perpetrator behaviour, we know that between 24% and 54% of domestic and family violence incidents reported to police involve alcohol.⁹ Evidence also shows that assaults in the home are both more likely to occur and to involve alcohol late at night.¹⁰ Alcohol-involved assaults increase between 6pm and 3am, with 37% of alcohol-fuelled assaults occurring in the home.¹¹ It is therefore concerning that alcohol ordered online can currently be delivered between the hours of 9am and 11pm.¹² 

Common sense measures needed to curb alcohol harms including family violence

To prevent rapid delivery of online alcohol orders, a 2-hour safety pause between the time of order and when it is dispatched from the retailer for delivery should be implemented for remote seller and packaged liquor licences. This would limit online orders placed with the intention of continuing drinking sessions once alcohol has run out, and discourages impulsive alcohol purchasing.

The 2-hour safety pause would not apply to restaurant and café licences, as consumers should not have to wait while their dinner goes cold, and Victoria has already legislated strict limits on the amount of alcohol that can be ordered for takeaway or delivery with the requirement they be accompanied by an adult meal.¹³

To ensure alcohol is not delivered late at night (when alcohol harms are often heightened), delivery block out times should be extended to between 10pm and 10am, a one-hour extension on either side of the current delivery hours.

Recommendations

Introduce a 2-hour dispatch safety pause on alcohol products ordered online, and extend delivery block out times to between 10pm and 10am (e.g., Alex places an online alcohol order at 5:30pm. With the introduction of a 2-hour dispatch safety pause, their order does not leave the retailer until 7:30pm. Alcohol delivery is restricted after 10pm, leaving two and a half hours for Alex’s order to be delivered.)

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References

1 ‘Table 11. Retail Turnover, State by Industry Subgroup, Original’, Australian Bureau of Statistics (Data Table, February 2025) <https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/industry/retail-and-wholesale-trade/retail-trade-australia/latest-release#data-downloads>. 

2 Note this is the national growth rate. ‘Alcoholic Drinks - Australia’, Statista (Web Page) <https://www.statista.com/outlook/cmo/alcoholic-drinks/australia>. 

3 Stephanie Colbert et al, ‘‘The Convenience is a Double-Edged Sword’: Qualitative Interviews With People Who Use Online Alcohol Delivery Services’ (2024) 43(2) Drug and Alcohol Review 425, 429; Taisia Huckle et al, ‘Online Alcohol Delivery is Associated With Heavier Drinking During the First New Zealand Covid-19 Pandemic Restrictions’ (2021) 40(5) Drug and Alcohol Review 826. 

4 Ingrid Giles, Finding Into Death Without Inquest (Coronial Finding, COR 2023 005162, 11 February 2025) 7 <https://www.coronerscourt.vic.gov.au/ sites/default/files/2025-02/COR%202023%20005162%20Form%2038%20-%20Finding%20into%20Death%20without%20Inquest.pdf>. 

5 Angus Thompson and Mary Ward, ‘Jimmy Brings Alcohol Delivery Investigated Over Sydney Man’s Death’, The Sydney Morning Herald (online, 14 October 2021) <https://www.smh.com.au/national/jimmy-brings-alcohol-delivery-investigated- over-sydney-man-s-death-20211013-p58zqq.html>. 

6 Yvette Mojica-Perez, Sarah Callinan and Michael Livingston, Alcohol Home Delivery Services: An Investigation of Use and Risk (Report, November 2019) 13 <https://fare.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Alcohol-home-delivery-services.pdf>.  

7 Stephanie Colbert et al, ‘Cross-Sectional Survey of a Convenience Sample of Australians Who Use Alcohol Home Delivery Services’ (2023) 42(5) Drug and Alcohol Review 986, 991.

8 Ibid.

9 Richelle Mayshak er al, ‘Alcohol-Involved Family and Domestic Violence Reported to Police in Australia’ (2022) 37(3-4) Journal of Interpersonal Violence NP1658, NP1658, NP1667 <https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520928633>. 

10 Ibid. 

11 Suzanne Briscoe and Neil Donnelly, Temporal and Regional Aspects of Alcohol-Related Violence and Disorder (Alcohol Studies Bulletin, No 1, May 2001) 5 <https://bocsar.nsw.gov.au/documents/publications/alcohol-bulletin/ab01a.pdf>.

12 Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (Vic) ss 3 (see ‘ordinary trading hours’), 9A(1)(d), 11(3)(cc), 11B(1)(a).

13 Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (Vic) s 9A(2)(da)(db).