WE DID IT! Our Mandatory Drink Spiking and Sexual Violence Prevention Petition Passes NSW Parliament
Chelsea Pass | 8 July 2023 | WWYW Articles
The 22nd of June 2023. A day when tears of joy and celebration erupted through the parliament of NSW. After months of campaigning, the long fight taken on by Sarah Williams and her team of volunteers has reached a victorious outcome:
Mandatory spiking and sexual assault training will now be enforced throughout NSW.
During the discussion, members from both sides of the aisle gave their opinions on the issue. However, ultimately all reached the same conclusion:
More needs to be done to prevent drink spiking.
In his opening address, vocal supporter of the petition and Member for Newcastle Tim Crakanthorp, emphasised the importance and necessity of introducing effective legislation to prevent drink spiking:
“An issue that hasn’t received much airtime in this place is the very serious issue of drink spiking”, said the Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education and the Hunter [1].
“It’s something that absolutely needs to be spoken about and an issue that affects many people. Over 20,000 people signed a petition coordinated by Newcastle based advocacy organisation What Were You Wearing? (WWYW) calling for measures to raise awareness, increase prevention measures and to better support people who may have had their drinks spiked.” [2]
Say No to Drink Spiking
More than 4000 occurrences of drink spiking occur per year with 70% occurring in licensed premises [3]. After one of our own, Demi-Anne Parkinson, had her drink spiked in December 2022, we launched the drink spiking campaign.
This campaign acknowledged the issue of drinking spiking while calling for the State Government to make a change; ensuring others don’t go through the same experience Demi did.
The drink spiking campaign called for all NSW pubs and clubs to implement mandatory drink spiking and sexual violence awareness training.
During her address, the Member for Newtown, Ms. Jenny Leong, said that cross party support and venue compliance are essential components in the creation of legislation that will effectively prevent drinking spiking:
“There are clear links between people having their drinks spiked and then going on to the experience sexual assault and violence. We also know that this is a gendered problem, that women are particularly at risk of this behaviour and we need to remember that while it is important to deliver on all of these suggested reforms in this petition, at the end of the day what we do need to do is step up and stop the perpetrators, the people who believe they are entitled to the idea of spiking somebody’s drink and then having some kind of claim of ownership over them to do what they wish with them,” said Ms. Leong [4]
To trigger a NSW legislative assembly debate, 20,000 signatures were needed. When the motion was passed, 20,181 people had signed the petition.
The Reason for the Petition
Drink spiking is a serious issue that is under addressed and under policed. Many victims are denied treatment or care from pubs and clubs because their symptoms of intoxication don’t fit the criteria of what the venue perceives is necessary to address [5].
This is what happened to Demi when on 2 December 2022.
After spending just over an hour at Newcastle nightclub, Finnegan’s Hotel, Demi was approached by a group of five men who pressured her into consuming drinks.
When the venue closed, the same group men tried to get Demi to leave the venue with them.
One of the men had gripped Demi tightly around the arm and was attempting to take her home with him. Noticing her endangerment, a group of Demi’s friends who were present that night, intervened in order to protect her. After a heated altercation, the men left without Demi. If it wasn’t for the intervention from Demi’s friend’s and the altercation that followed, Demi’s circumstances would likely have been much worse.
During the altercation, Demi began to feel symptoms of sedation and shortly after began to drift in and out of consciousness. Her friends attempted to ask the Finnigan’s Hotel venue staff for help to treat her. However, despite Demi’s condition, they were repeatedly denied help.
Instead, the staff at Finnigan’s hotel laughed at the concerns of her friends and then tried to intimidate them when they remained adamant that she needed help.
Demi was later taken to hospital, where it was confirmed that her drink had been spiked.
“We know shamefully that victim survivors are often not believed, and their experience is routinely dismissed. The scrutiny and vitriol that is levelled against is shameful and it’s toxic and it’s relentless,” said Ms. Jenny Leong, Member for Newtown [6].
Fortunately for Demi, she has made a full recovery and has people who are willing to stand up for her. However, unfortunately, not all victims enjoy the same support.
That’s why changing the current RSA training to include a section on drink spiking and sexual violence awareness is essential.
The Petition Passed! Now what?
On 22 June 2023, the petition passed unopposed [7]. This means that bar staff and security guards will have to complete mandatory training on drink spiking and sexual violence awareness [8]. The Hon. David Harris, Minister for Gaming and Racing and Wyong, provided a response to the actions underway to prevent and protect against drinking spiking in licensed venues across NSW:
“Liquor and Gaming NSW provide a supporting role through education and training for venue staff and licensees and awareness campaigns for venue operators and patrons. In terms of education, Liquor and Gaming NSW is currently refreshing its Responsible Service of Alcohol training content in relation to drink spiking and refreshing the information in the licensee handbook,” said the Hon. David Harris [9].
“In addition to training of staff, Liquor and Gaming NSW is exploring options to further promote awareness campaigns such as the NSW’s Police Force ‘think safe to drink safe’ campaign which was launched over the 2022/2023 summer period, just in time for World Pride. Liquor NSW will also review the ‘ask for Angela’ campaign that commenced in NSW in 2017 which aims to prevent sexual violence and improve safety for patrons” [10].
Until the rollout for the mandatory training is rolled out, if you or someone you know has been spiked, NSW police recommend following these steps:
Ask someone you trust to get you to a safe place.
If you feel unwell or have been sexually assaulted, call an ambulance or present to your nearest emergency department or hospital.
Ask your doctor for a test to detect the presence of drugs [11]
In addition, we recommend the following steps:
Call 000 for medical treatment or if you feel unsafe in your situation.
Report to the police and venue about the attack.
Further, to keep up to date to the ‘Say no to drink spiking’ campaign, check out our website:
https://www.whatwereyouwearingaus.org/drink-spiking-campaign
References
1. NSW, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 22 June 2023, Mr Tim Crakanthorp.
2. Ibid.
3. Sally Rawsthorne, ‘”Obviously concerned”: Reports of drink spiking at historic high’, The Guardian (online, October 29 2022)
4. NSW, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 22 June 2023, Ms Jenny Leong.
5. Keely Johnson, ‘Training for bar staff to detect drink spiking to be debated in NSW parliament today’, ABC News (online, 22 June 2023)
6. Leong (n 3).
7. Rod Thompson, ‘NSW Parliament supports WWYW’s petition to prevent drink spiking’, Newcastle Weekly (online, 23 June 2023)
< https://newcastleweekly.com.au/nsw-parliament-supports-wwyws-petition-to-prevent-drink-spiking/>
8. See, ibid.
9. NSW, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 22 June 2023, Mr David Harris.
10. Ibid.
11. NSW Police force, ‘Drink Spiking. What is drink spiking?’ NSW Gov
