Either this movie was unrealistic or else Australia is a lot less uptight about underage drinking. Heidi seems to have no problem lingering around and drinking alcoholic drinks in this film. Even if the drinking age down under IS 16, I would assume someone who is JUST 16 would at least get carded. Hell, we card up to age 30 in the US!!
sharelegal drinkin age is 18 in auustralia
shareIf I can remember correctly (and seeing as I don't drink, I'm not too clear on it):
It isn't illegal to drink when you're 16-17 in Australia, but is IS illegal for someone to buy you the drinks themselves. Legal age for buying and distributing alcohol is 18.
Still... we aren't as bad as Amsterdam. :P
PS. No offence to anybody from Amsterdam.
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"You were almost a Jill Sandwich!"
Worst. Game line. Ever.
There is no legal drinking age (as in most of the world). It is only legal age to buy a drink for yourself.
share"There is no legal drinking age (as in most of the world). It is only legal age to buy a drink for yourself."
What does underage drinking fall under?
legal drinking age is 18 - but in smaller country towns underage drinking is really common and a lot easier to get away with.
in cities you get asked for i.d all the time, just i guess less staff and more to the point less cops in small towns so everyone gets away with it. pubs are more likely to turn a blind eye when they can as they need to make money!
i think from memory(been a couple of years) she is in a small ski resort town?
--i think from memory(been a couple of years) she is in a small ski resort town?--
She is in Jindabyne (or somewhere on the outskirts), which used to be a quiet little town, but now days has tourists coming out of it's arse.
I looked into this in depth a while back but forgot everything...pretty sure there's no offence for underage drinking. It's just illegal for the over 18 person to buy or supply alcohol to a minor. So only the adult will get done with an offence.
If it's a child drinking at home then nothing is likely to happen...if a child was making trouble due to being drunk in public then the usual offences would apply.
I'm in Australia and always get asked for ID in pubs etc but not always in bottle shops - I'm in a bigger town though, it's possible it's different in the country. I can't remember in this film whether she bought her own or just got guys to buy them for her - if they bought them for her I can understand how she managed it.
It IS illegal to drink under the age of 18 but it isn't usually prosecuted.
sharethe drinking age is 18 in australia but in small country towns you almost never get asked for ID, especially in a place like jindabyne. i was drinking there when i was 16
shareSmall town cops never seem to care... i know this guy whos dads a cop and his dad buys him alcohol for like all the partys and suck... so as longas she had someone buying it for her, no one cared
share...hilariously warped logic--a situation just begging for a young girl to get raped. oh well i was drinking underaged as well--so no complaining.
shareI was buying alcohol when I was 15 here in Croatia with no problem, cigarettes even earlier. No one gives a sh*t :)
Living is easy, with your eyes closed.
Unless the rules have changed since I left my homeland of Australia, the legal drinking age, irrespective of whether you buy the alcohol or have someone else buy it for you, is 18, though there's a push on to have it raised back to 21 because of the increased alcohol-related problems associated with the relevant age group. Yes, you may not get prosecuted as a minor for drinking alcohol (though that's argumentative) but it still means that you should technically be thrown out of any pub or bar you're found drinking in, and can leave the establishment legally liable for knowingly serving a minor. If the cops were to find you in possession of booze as a minor, they're also legally entitled to confiscate it from you.
That being said, Australia is such a pub and beer drinking orientated society that few publicans care one way or the other if you're under age - the key is to at least LOOK like you're 18! I was drinking regularly in a pub with my office coworkers at 16, and was such a constant (many years ago) at the Occidental hotel on Sydney's York street that the publican used to include me in occasional after-hour get-together's with a few regular patrons.
Another point to Americans reading this: Australia, like England, has a pub culture that has absolutely no problem with employees throwing back a few drinks during their lunch hour. I've lived in the USA for 10 years, and largely because I'm self-employed I wasn't aware until very recently that employees in America can get fired for drinking during their lunch break. In Australia, it's so part of day to day life to go to the nearest pub for your lunch break that it's more than likely you could be having a few beers with your boss or supervisor whilst there. A lot of employers/supervisors, especially of the old school, would in fact find you a little suspect if you DIDN'T throw back a few drinks with them at lunchtime! What isn't acceptable in Australia is to come back to work from lunch absolutely plastered. A few drinks is fine - having your work performance affected isn't acceptable, though I've seen many a fellow office worker return to work more than just a little merry!
I know from what I've seen at my job they don't allow drinking on your lunch break (I work at woolworths :P) and a couple of the guys at our store got instant dismissals for knocking back a drink in the parking lot on their lunch break.
shareTimes have changed and it's no longer quite so acceptable to drink at lunchtime, depending on your workplace. My work lunches now usually involve water for all (including the young workers), whereas when I was young I'd get a jug of vodka and coke. Also, no sign of raising the drinking age.
shareDon't know about drinking age in Australia but they drink a lot in the film, that's for sure.
If the idea is to stay alive, I'm driving.
Attitudes to underage drinking have changed over time. When I was a teenager (a long time ago) it was not uncommon for an announcement to come over the public address system at a hotel "The police are on the way. All underage drinkers leave the bar."
In other words, firstly, police warned the pubs that they were coming to inspect and, secondly, the pubs knew there were underage drinkers on their premises.
I was never asked for ID as a 15-20 year old. I was a big kid (fat, not tall and mature looking) but didn't really looking any older than I really was. I'm talking about the 1970s.
In the mid-70s I worked in a club that had three bars on three different levels of the club. The bars closed for the night at different times, and patrons would move down to the next level. But when the top bar (the disco) closed and the lights went on, all the underage drinkers left the club, knowing they couldn't pass for 18 in a bar with the lights on. I remember one of the regular drinkers in the top bar being very drunk when I arrived for work one night. She told me it was her birthday. When I asked how old she was she proudly told me she was 14!
It's tougher now. Pubs and clubs who knowingly allowed underage drinking would be fined heavily. And the police would not turn a blind eye. Lots, but not all, venues have a bouncer checking ID.
Having said that, most teenagers are regularly finding a way to get their hands on alcohol if they want it.
You are right Drewy. Pubs and clubs were a lot slacker in the 70's. And for some reason particularly up at the snow... We started hanging out at a pub at Mt Buller when I was 13! And I'm pretty sure I didn't look older than 13. I don't think we actually bought alcohol that first year but definitely by the time we were 15 we were getting served wine or mixed drinks without anyone batting an eyelid. I also have vivid memories of a holiday on the Gold Coast when I was 15. My girlfriend and I hung out at the Broadbeach Beer Garden and Disco every night, bought 'Southern and cokes' every time, and it was never an issue..
No way now that my teenage daughters will get served drinks in a bar until they are 18 and have IDs to prove it!
lol who gives a *beep* in most countries you can buy alcohol and cigarettes even as a kid, except ofc. in USA and similiar countries - which is ironic, considering how much Americans brags about freedom....
shareI was drinking in bars at 14 in the US...NYC actually. If you had paperwork, or a "sort of" ID no one cared. I don't why everyone is so shocked.
Fiery the angels fell, deep thunder rolled around their shores, burning with the fires of Orc