Kids and alcohol: Three-quarters of online deliveries made without ID check, study reveals

About half of all alcohol deliveries are left unattended on doorsteps by drivers, a new report has found.

• Three-quarters of alcohol deliveries to Auckland homes are being left unattended on doorsteps or being made without checking IDs, according to new research in the NZ Medical Journal.
• This could lead to more children drinking alcohol as well as a spike in binge drinking and domestic violence, researchers warn.
• ID checks on delivery for online sales are not required under NZ law.

A health group is warning there could be more Auckland children drinking alcohol, and a spike in domestic violence, now booze can be ordered without ID checks and delivered to homes ultra-fast.

The new Alcohol Healthwatch study published this week in the New Zealand Medical Journal has found almost three-quarters (73%) of online alcohol orders in Auckland are either being delivered without ID checks or being left unattended on doorsteps.

Sarah Sneyd, the report’s lead author, said most Kiwis expect alcohol to be served responsibly.

There were “many risks” associated with the fact deliveries could arrive as fast as within 17 minutes, and be left unattended, she said.

“We know from research that the easier it is to get alcohol, the more is consumed, and the more harm there is,” she said.

“For alcohol delivered to homes, this has major implications for family violence, child maltreatment, and continuing binge drinking sessions long after they would have otherwise wound up.”

Currently, NZ law does not require age identification to be provided at purchase or upon delivery.

Rather, it states that remote sellers (those selling alcohol over the internet, or by phone or mail order) should take reasonable steps to verify that both the buyer and the receiver of any home-delivered alcohol are over the legal purchase age.

The Act says a reasonable effort is confirming twice the buyer is over 18, such as when first entering a website and then again just before completing the purchase.

“In essence, for online companies this requires providing two tick-boxes or date of birth boxes on the website, with no checks required at time of delivery,” Alcohol Healthwatch said.

Despite every company tested in the study claiming they check ID on delivery, only two companies - UberEats and DoorDash - did this for every delivery, she said.

Most of the other company delivery drivers, including supermarket chains, never checked ID, Sneyd said.

“We can’t leave it up to companies to regulate themselves and check ID,” she said.

“Every company said they do this. But almost 90% of them aren’t doing it.”

To conduct its research, Sneyd’s team placed 46 orders with 16 different companies promising same-day delivery.

They were Countdown (now Woolworths), Delivereasy, DoorDash, Fine O Wine, Laithwaites, New World, Beevee, Paddock to Pantry, UberEats, Teddy, Liquor Legends, Society Liquor, Fine Wine Delivery, Wine Central, Alcohol Delivery, and Good Drop.

In total, 62% of deliveries did not check age identifications on delivery and 49% left deliveries unattended.

Alcohol Healthwatch said the lack of regulations reflected that the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 had not been updated to reflect growing online sales.

These began to grow during the Covid pandemic in New Zealand and people now order nearly any type of alcohol from a broad range of sellers and can get it delivered within half an hour.

Virginia Nicholls, from the alcohol industry’s lobby group, Alcohol Beverages Council, told the Herald “the law does not require ID checks before you deliver”.

“However, we support a strengthening of this area,” she said.

New figures showed 73% of alcohol orders were delivered with no ID check, and 49% were simply left unattended at the door. Photo / File

“Our members who deliver already require age-checking identification. Some of our members have a mystery shopping programme running to ensure delivery agents are doing this.”

Sneyd said the issue shouldn’t be left up to the companies to self-regulate and legal regulations were instead needed.

The Alcohol Healthwatch report found rapid delivery orders were made in under 30 minutes on average, and the fastest in 17 minutes. Photo / Supplied

Sneyd said unmonitored deliveries had combined with relatively unregulated online marketing of alcohol to create a “perfect storm”.

“Pocket-money priced booze available and marketed on popular social media channels, meaning a bottle store can be in your pocket,” Sneyd said.

Her team found that deliveries from companies promising rapid delivery were on average made in about 30 minutes, and the fastest delivery arrived in 17 minutes.

“New Zealanders expect a certain level of protection when it comes to alcohol sales, and that includes someone checking that it’s not being sold to children or intoxicated people,” Sneyd said.

She said New Zealand should join most other OECD countries in introducing age verifications and addressing the speed of online deliveries to create a “better balance of convenience and safety”.

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