1. New mum furious after she was booted from a venue with her “underage baby”.
A mum kicked out of a bowling venue while breastfeeding, with the eviction blamed on liquor licensing laws. #7News https://t.co/YMdgwovCxM
— 7 News Melbourne (@7NewsMelbourne) March 6, 2017
A Melbourne mother has spoken out after she was asked to leave a popular bowling alley with her infant baby because her child was ‘underage’, 7 News reports.
Marion Falla was catching up with friends at a local bowling venue thinking the family-friendly spot would be a better place than a pub to take her three-month-old daughter.
But the group of friends was evicted under liquor licensing laws when the bowling alley started serving alcohol at 8pm, half an hour after they had arrived.
Top Comments
I wonder how people miss the point that licensing laws are laws, not general guides. If it is against their licence to allow under aged people in after a certain time the venue and staff can face some pretty serious fines and loss of licence if they are caught out. I don't know what specific licence this bowling alley had, but a venue I worked at had very strict licensing. It meant that after a certain time the venue became strictly 18+ and no longer a venue to take your family for a meal. This does mean babies aren't welcome too. That is a sucky part of being a parent, not being able to take the kids with you on a night out, but it is just a fact of parenting. Not everything is discrimination, sometimes it is just unsuitable to take your kids to certain venues at certain times.
Actually looking into it a few years ago & I was told that babies up to the age of 12 months were accepted in some licensed places (depends on the suitability of the establishment - not sure how that's determined)
Yes licencing laws are pretty specific and dont exclude those who cant go to the bar themselves. All that law part aside tho, once 8pm comes why would you want to stay there with your baby who will be bothered to drunkards and load noise? Seems logical that when booze oclock comes the establishment probably isnt a great place for your baby anyway
I have never heard of such a licensing law, they are very very clear on the different licences who is permitted on premises and under what circumstances. If you found a particular licence that allows that it must be very specific and not particularly common. The thing people miss, aside from the fact that it is an offence to not follow the licensing laws of a venue, is that preventing under aged kids from drinking is not the sole reason for licensing laws. It is also because said venue is not an appropriate environment for children and venue owners have a duty of care. I know that kids are big dampeners on our social lives, my munchkin has been interferring with mine since 2014. And yes, leaving baby with a sitter can be pretty impossible when you are breastfeeding often isn't possible. But thems the breaks. You have to find more suitable places to catch up with friends.
Yeah, I remember one night working where a mother became irate that her baby had to go. I kept thinking hey, this isn't a great environment for him anyway! I don't want to sound judgey, and of course mums deserve a night out too, but it was a bad judgement call to chose that venue at that time for a family outing. The place was filled with drunk people, for goodness sakes! I know the suckiness of not having a reliable sitter (my husband and I live away from family and friends, so nights out alone are rare. I literally cannot remember the last time we had one), but that is just what you choose when you have kids.