An audit which found Warrnambool sporting clubs were selling booze to young-looking people without asking for identification, has been described as "a bit of an eye-opener".
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South West Sport chief executive officer Mike Neoh said his group's response to the report was to run a series of responsible serving of alcohol courses for sporting clubs.
Mr Neoh said that while it was disappointing to hear that identification checks in sporting clubs were being overlooked, highlighting the issue now provided the sector with an opportunity to take a proactive approach to the issue.
He labelled the audit as "a bit of an eye-opener".
Mr Neoh said they were looking forward to meeting with the South West Primary Care Partnership and Department of Justice to look at resourcing support for further rollouts of the responsible serving of alcohol courses.
South West Sport team leader Kimberley Ransfield said sporting clubs were encouraged to put their members through the accredited course to ensure they were aware of their responsibilities and compliance requirements.
The course will run Thursday, November 14 from 6pm at the Old Collegians Football Netball Club Rooms on Caramut Road.
The alcohol supply monitoring program which monitors alcohol sales in bottle-shops and sports club involved a legal-aged person of underage appearance attempting to buy alcohol, with an independent monitor present.
A preliminary audit conducted in May revealed 69 per cent of Warrnambool bottle shops and no sporting venues asked the person for ID before selling them alcohol.
Following the investigation, venues were made aware of their level of compliance and were informed of an intended repeat audit.
A second audit conducted four weeks later showed 56 per cent compliance of bottle shops and 0 per cent of sporting venues.
Warrnambool police liquor licensing Inspector Paul Marshall said the findings were alarming because it showed licensed premises could be serving underage people alcohol without knowing.
"It is surprising that licensees aren't a lot tighter on this," he said.
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