5th January, 2021 — Alcohol

Serving standard drinks

A standard drink is not about the size of the glass, it’s about what’s in the glass. Know the recommended daily limits and how much alcohol is in your drink.

When having a drink, it can be tricky to keep track of how much alcohol you’ve had. Just counting the number of glasses can be misleading.

  • Glass sizes vary and even names can muddy the waters. Are you drinking pots, ponies or pints? Middies, butchers or schooners?
  • Drinks come in containers of all different shapes and sizes. All alcohol packaging in Australia – bottles, cans and casks - shows the number of standard drinks inside.
  • Different types of drinks contain very different amounts of alcohol.
  • Sometimes drinks are mixed with unknown quantities of alcohol, such as in cocktails and alcoholic punches.
  • Sometimes jugs and casks are shared.
  • Glasses may be topped up before they are empty.

This quick guide comparing standard drinks is a good start to staying within recommended limits.

This is no more than 10 standard drinks per week for healthy adults, and no more than 4 drinks in one day.

std drinks.png

Making things easier

Good Sports clubs play an important role in helping members and guests have a better grasp of their drinking levels. It’s as easy as putting in place a few strategies.

Serve the correct drink sizes

If you’ve got a bar, make sure bar staff or volunteers are trained to pour the correct standard drink sizes. This is easy if everyone has a Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certificate.

You could print out the standard drinks chart above to stick behind the bar to refer back to.

It will also help if the club supplies glassware that includes the correct standard drink line to pour to. Make sure that the line indicates the Australian sizing.

Avoid events with table service

Table service at events and functions will often mean that guests’ drinks are topped up before they’re empty. Sometimes bottles of alcohol will be provided to guests to pour themselves. This makes it very hard for guests to keep track of their alcohol intake.

Keep a close eye on cocktails

Some cocktails can contain as many as five or six standard drinks. This can be deceiving for those drinking cocktails. And the taste of mixed drinks often means they feel easier to knock back.

Avoid selling cocktails that contain more than one standard drink per serve and think about the way you promote a cocktail menu.

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