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📄A Summary Of Australian Hospitality Terminology

A summary of words and phrases used throughout the Australian Hospitality Industry

Quick Reference 

Venues & Licensing
Food & Beverage
Staff & Roles
Compliance & Operations
Customer & Service
Industry Jargon & Technology
 
 

Venues & Licensing

  • Pub – Licensed venue serving alcohol, often with food, pokies, TAB.
  • Hotel – Licensed premises, may or may not have accommodation.
  • RSL – Returned Services League club with bar, bistro, pokies.
  • Pokies – Poker/slot machines.
  • TAB – Betting outlet for racing/sports.
  • Bottle-o – Liquor store.
  • Drive-thru – Bottle shop with car access.
  • Late-night licence – Authority to trade past standard hours.
  • Lockout laws – Restrictions on entry/service after certain hours.
  • On-premise – Consumption on site (pubs, bars, restaurants).
  • Off-premise – Packaged alcohol sales for takeaway (bottle shops).


Food & Beverage

  • Counter meal / Countery – Pub food ordered at the bar.
  • Parma / Parmi – Chicken parmigiana.
  • Schooner / Pot / Midi / Pint / Keg – Beer sizes and container.
  • Jug – Beer pitcher (~1.1 L).
  • Happy hour – Discounted drinks period.
  • Shout – Buying a round of drinks.
  • Top-shelf – Premium spirits.
  • House wine / spirits – Venue’s cheapest default pours.
  • BYO – Bring Your Own alcohol (with corkage).
  • Mains / Entrees / Sides – Meal course types.
  • Coursing – Structuring service into courses.
  • Hold and Fire – Hold mains in POS, fire later.


Staff & Roles

  • Publican / Licensee – Person holding the liquor licence.
  • Duty Manager – On-shift manager responsible for compliance.
  • Barback / Glassie – Junior staff clearing and restocking.
  • Floorie – Floor staff member.
  • Gaming attendant – Staff working pokies/TAB.
  • Security / Crowd controller – Licensed guard.
  • Chef de partie – Section chef in kitchen.
  • Kitchen hand – Dishwasher and kitchen support.


Compliance & Operations

  • RSA – Responsible Service of Alcohol.
  • RSG – Responsible Service of Gaming.
  • Compliance check – Regulator test of venue practices.
  • Float – Starting till cash.
  • Cash-up – End-of-day till reconciliation.
  • Stocktake – Inventory count.
  • Keg change / Line clean – Beer system maintenance.
  • X-read – Mid-shift till reading.
  • Z-read – End-of-day till reading.
  • Settlement – Closing and reconciling accounts/tills.
  • Roll time of day – The system “end of business day” in POS.
  • Recognised / Unrecognised revenue – Booked vs pending revenue.
  • Liability / Gift certificate – Prepaid vouchers treated as liabilities until redeemed.
  • Supplier price book – Reference list of supplier prices.
  • Invoicing / Electronic invoicing – Supplier billing methods.
  • Liquor purchasing group – Collective buying group for alcohol supply.



Customer & Service

  • Regular – Frequent customer.
  • Function – Private event booking.
  • Tab – Running bill settled later.
  • Cover – One paying diner/main meal.
  • Walk-in – Guest without reservation.
  • No-show – Missed booking.
  • Walk-out – Customers leaving without paying.
  • Footy – AFL or rugby games; key driver of pub traffic.

 

 

Industry Jargon & Technology

  • Front of house (FOH) – Customer-facing staff/areas.
  • Back of house (BOH) – Kitchen and staff-only areas.
  • 86’d – Item sold out.
  • Double / Split shift – Long or broken rosters.
  • Award wage – Legal minimum pay under Fair Work.
  • Penalty rates – Higher pay for weekends/holidays.
  • GP (Gross Profit) – Margin on food/beverage sales.
  • POS (Point of Sale) – Till system.
  • Till – POS PC / digital register.
  • MPOS - Nickname for the new SmartPOS Mobile program used on Oolio Pinpads
  • Terminal – Can mean POS workstation or EFTPOS pinpad.
  • Pinpad – EFTPOS payment terminal.
  • EFTPOS – Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale.
  • Scanner – Barcode or QR code scanner.
  • RFID / Proxy reader – Contactless login or access device.
  • Kitchen printer – Impact printer for orders.
  • Receipt printer – Thermal printer for customer receipts.
  • Ribbon  - The ink cartridge module of a impact [Kitchen] Printer 
  • Tare - Process of Zeroing the load of a Scale even if there is a weight 
  • Hold & Fire - The functions used to delay printing a [Hold] Table Order and then Send the order [Fire] to the Printer