Melbourne street sign near Marvel Stadium causes confusion
A street sign banning public drinking between certain hours has Melburnians scratching their heads.
The sign was spotted in Melbourne’s CBD near Marvel Stadium and shows a figure drinking from a bottle with a red line through it, and the words ‘Do not drink on the street between 7pm and 8am: $100 fine’.
A local resident posted a sign on Reddit on Friday with the headline “You can only drink on the streets during the day in Melbourne,” giving the impression that they could drink all day without being fined.
‘Today I learned that as a born Melburnian we are allowed to drink on the streets of the city at certain times. Let’s go,” someone said.
“Day drinking is the best kind of drinking,” said another.
A Melbourne resident came across this sign in the Melbourne CBD, which allows public drinking between 8am and 6pm (pictured)
Social media users were confused by the sign (pictured) as other states have stricter laws regarding public drinking
Many were confused because they had never heard of the rule.
‘I don’t think this law has been enforced even once. Source: Melburnian,” one person wrote.
“It’s my first time here and I’ve been all over the world – this is one of the most interesting laws/signs I’ve come across,” said another.
“I’ve never seen that before, I always assumed it was illegal regardless of the time (I got fined for having a beer somewhere else),” said one.
“Melburnian here – never seen this sign or heard of this law in my life. To think I could have been drinking all that time on a public day,” said another.
In major cities in Australia, it is illegal to drink in public areas – sidewalks, plazas, shopping centers – in central business districts, reports say Yahoo.
Despite the sign, it is illegal to drink CBD anywhere in Melbourne, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (pictured area near Marvel Stadium where the sign is located)
In Sydney, it is illegal to drink on the streets at all times in most of the CBD.
In Queensland, a person cannot drink alcohol anywhere in a public place unless the area has been declared a wet area.
In Adelaide, drinking alcohol on the streets and squares is prohibited – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – as these are considered dry areas.
Throughout Western Australia, it is against the law for anyone to drink in a public place, such as on the street, in parks or on the beach.
That’s why the sign caused confusion, because it implies that you can drink during the day, but that’s not the case.
A spokeswoman for the City of Melbourne confirmed this Yahoo the sign was actually outdated and invalid.
‘It’s an old sign and the website is correct. We will check the area for old signs and have them removed,” she said.
In Melbourne, drinking alcohol is prohibited 24 hours a day, 365 days a year in all public places in the CBD.
The laws were last updated in 2019.