Bennett v Cooper

This case concerned an appeal to the High Court of Australia from a decision of the Supreme Court of Western Australia. The appellants, Bennett and Bawden, were charged with supplying liquor on the premises of an unregistered club, contrary to section 203(1) of the *Licensing Act 1911-1946* (W.A.). The premises in question belonged to the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes Grand Lodge of Western Australia under the Grand Lodge of England Incorporated (the Order), which was not registered as a club under the Act. At a meeting of a minor lodge, the Leederville Lodge, held on the Order's premises, the appellants, acting as waiters, filled jugs of beer from a keg and placed them on tables for members to consume. The liquor had been procured by the Order's treasurer and paid for from the funds of the Leederville Lodge, with members not paying separately for their consumption.

The legal issues before the High Court were whether the Order constituted a "club" within the meaning of the *Licensing Act*, whether its premises were "club premises," and whether the actions of the appellants amounted to a "supply" of liquor under the Act. The Supreme Court had found that the Order was a club and that liquor had been supplied on its premises, leading to the conviction of the appellants, which they appealed.

The High Court, in allowing the appeal, reasoned that the Order, with its primary objects of providing relief to necessitous brethren and their dependants, and its structure of separate lodges, did not fit the common understanding of a "club" as contemplated by the *Licensing Act*. The Act's provisions regarding unregistered clubs were intended to apply to associations that provided a place of resort for social intercourse and entertainment, which the Order's premises, used mainly for lodge meetings, did not primarily serve. Furthermore, the Court found that the evidence did not clearly establish that the actions of the appellants constituted a "supply" of liquor in the legal sense, as the liquor was already available to the members, and their actions merely facilitated self-service.

Consequently, the High Court set aside the order of the Supreme Court and reinstated the decision of the magistrate, which had dismissed the complaint against Bennett and Bawden. The Court concluded that the Order was not a club and its premises were not club premises for the purposes of the *Licensing Act*, thus the charge of supplying liquor on the premises of an unregistered club could not be sustained.