The government is considering plans to crackdown on underage drinking by making it illegal for adults to give booze to children and teens without their parents' consent.
Currently people aged under 18 can be given alcohol without their parents' consent if they are in private homes or at private functions.
Parental consent is just one of many recommendations in the Law Commission's review of liquor laws, the New Zealand Herald reports.
It suggested consent should be written or oral with a maximum fine of $5000 for infringements recommended.
However it states a parent should not be liable when the minor acted against their instructions.
Justice Minister Simon Power told the New Zealand Herald that although the Law Commission's suggestion was being considered, it was not necessarily going to become law because "national is not in the business of getting into people's homes on issues like this and telling them how to run their lives".
But Mr Power said parents had requested for such measures to help the problem of teen drinking.
A former Victoria University law lecturer John Miller outlined to the New Zealand Herald the difficulties of proving parental consent.
"The kid could carry a written permission just like a school note. But kids are always forging school notes, so how would you know?
"In another instance, you could be at a family gathering and it's your niece or nephew. You know from previous occasions that their parents would give consent, so there's implied consent," Dr Miller said.
Dr Miller said parents could see the law as intrusive and may prefer to teach their kids better drinking behaviours.
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