An August 2021 news article in the UNSW Sydney studied world wide Alcohol Delivery Services and in particular noted significant age verification flaws.
The researchers compared the policies governing online alcohol sales and home delivery in 77 jurisdictions across six countries. They also conducted a literature review of studies evaluating whether online alcohol retailers comply with age verification requirements.
They found that most jurisdictions permit the online sale and delivery of alcohol, but only seven jurisdictions (none in Australia) needed age to be verified online at the time of purchase. Without age checks online, the only barrier to a minor purchasing alcohol is access to a debit or credit card or PayPal account.
“This is insufficient given that children can open debit card accounts in most countries. Children in Australia can do so from age nine and without parental involvement from age 14, far below the minimum alcohol purchase age,” Ms Colbert says.
The research found that most jurisdictions rely on age verification occurring at delivery:
“Few jurisdictions require training for delivery drivers, while jurisdictions make explicit allowances for alcohol to be left unattended at the door at the buyer’s request.”
ID checking and ID scanning at the point of delivery would resolve this issue. However:
“This is flawed as it relies on a person over the legal purchase age being home to collect the delivery and a delivery person being trained and motivated to correctly verify age,” Ms Colbert says.
“Few jurisdictions require training for delivery drivers, while jurisdictions make explicit allowances for alcohol to be left unattended at the door at the buyer’s request,” Ms Colbert says.
Minor Decliner provides solutions for this problem and many others related to ID scanning and ID checking.
Read the full article: Alcohol delivery services need robust age verification