Think Safe to Drink Safe - Liquor & Gaming NSW

What is Think Safe to Drink Safe?

Think Safe to Drink Safe aims to educate the community and create awareness about safer drinking behaviours and share tips to mitigate potential risks to personal safety.

Safer drinking tips

Below is a list of Think Safe to Drink Safe tips:

Know what you’re drinking. Don’t accept drinks from others, always buy your own and watch it get made. Never leave your drink unattended and avoid batch drinks like punches that may have unknown ingredients and alcohol content.
Pace yourself. Count your drinks, try a low-alcohol alternative, or have a ‘spacer’ of water between alcoholic drinks. Don't let people continually top up your drink, as it’s harder to keep track of your alcohol consumption and be aware that different drinks have different strengths. Set a timer on your phone to help you pace your drinks.
Avoid shouts, drinking games or shots. Drink at your own pace, you don’t have to join in every round and consider buying a non-alcoholic drink when it's your turn. Don't be pressured into drinking more than you want or intend to.
Eat before or while you are drinking. If you have a full stomach, alcohol will be absorbed more slowly. Avoid salty snacks, as these make you drink more.
Stay busy. If you have something to do, you tend to drink less so have a game of pool or hit the dance floor.
Trust your feelings and instincts. If you feel unsafe, uncomfortable, or worried for any reason, try and get somewhere safe and find someone you trust for help. This could be a friend, bar or venue staff, security or Police. You won’t get in trouble and you will be believed.
Have a ‘plan B’. Plans change quickly, ensure you have multiple options to get home safely. Remember you may still be over the limit the next morning.
Always tell your friends where you’re going. Let someone know which venue you’re drinking at. If you go to another location, particularly with someone you don’t know well, send the address to a trusted friend. If you decide to go home early, leave the group or even just go to the bathroom, let your friends know.
Look after your friends! If you are going out in a group, plan to arrive together and leave together. Never leave a friend who's been drinking on their own. If you’re at a party, check in with them during the night to see how they’re doing. If something doesn’t look right, let a friend or trusted person know you are uncomfortable or worried about their safety.
Sometimes sticking together isn't enough, you need to recognise when you might need to call for help.
Consent. If someone is intoxicated, they cannot consent.

Drink spiking

Drink spiking means to put alcohol or drugs into someone's drink without their knowledge or permission.
Many drugs and alcohol used to spike drinks are tasteless. If there’s a change in your drink’s flavour or if it tastes or smells stronger than what you were expecting, get rid of it and let a trusted person, like a friend, bar or venue staff, security or Police know.
Know the signs and symptoms of drink spiking: feeling dizzy, faint, ill, sleepy, incoherent, confused or drunk even though you’ve consumed a small amount of alcohol. If you experience these, let a trusted person know. If you see a friend experiencing these symptoms, check in and stay with them until they recover. Remember you can call 000 in an emergency, you won’t get in trouble. You will be believed and you won't get in trouble.
Drink spiking is a crime. In NSW penalties include fines and up to 2 years imprisonment.
Don’t be a drink spiker! Adding or buying extra alcohol for your friend’s drink without their knowledge is drink spiking – it’s a crime. It will ruin their night – and yours.
Drink spiking has consequences – it is irresponsible and dangerous. Even if the intention is not malicious, the consequences can be serious, and it may lead to significant harm.
See something, say something. Drink spiking happens and perpetrators can be anyone. Be conscious of who is around you and if you see someone drink spiking or something suspicious, call it out! Tell bar or venue staff, security staff or Police and make a report to the venue.
Be an active bystander. Active bystanders can play a role in eliminating drink spiking occurrences and reducing associated harms. Being an active bystander is about noticing an event/occurrence of drink spiking or suspicious behaviour, identifying it as a problem, taking responsibility and stepping up, making a plan to intervene or step in (either directly or indirectly) and taking action. There are several ways you can intervene, take action and be an active bystander including:
- Call out the drink spiking – see something, say something
- Offer assistance to the victim by listening to them and/or helping them to get to a safe space
- Support the victim to report the incident to the venue or Police if they wish
- Support the victim to access medical treatment and/or support services if they wish.
Being an active bystander is also about educating your friends, family and the wider community about drink spiking.
Get help ASAP! If you think your drink has been spiked you can:
- Ask someone you trust to help you get to a safe place
- If you feel unwell, go to the emergency department of the nearest hospital
- In an emergency, phone triple zero (000) or the nearest police station
- Ask your doctor to test for the presence of drugs. Urine or blood test can pick up traces of certain drugs up to 24 hours later
- Make a report to the venue and/or Police – reporting the incident can contribute to preventing drink spiking incidents happening to others
- For information about sexual assault, or for counselling or referral, call or visit 1800RESPECT.

Toolkit

We invite all venues to use the Think Safe to Drink Safe resources to educate patrons about how to protect themselves and their mates in licensed venues. This toolkit contains links to all resources, together with safer drinking tips to enable licensees to roll-out the campaign in their venues.