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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3101 ..

MR OSBORNE: I move:

That the Assembly authorises the publication of the report on the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs' inquiry into voluntary codes of practice for liquor licensees.

(Quorum formed)

Question resolved in the affirmative.

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, I move:

That the report be noted.

The committee began this inquiry earlier this year, in February, essentially as a result of a small group of licensees who were frequently and, I would suggest, blatantly breaching the liquor codes of practice to which they were signatories. The codes were originally developed by the then Community Safety Committee in 1993, in consultation with the liquor industry, to deal with alcohol-related problems in Civic. A number of other States were also in the process of establishing codes of practice at that time as a means of providing for industry self-regulation to complement the work of the police. By going beyond the letter of the law, the codes sought to prevent many alcohol-related problems from occurring by promoting the responsible use and serving of alcohol in Civic and Manuka nightclubs and various other late-night trading premises. The former ACT Attorney-General, Terry Connolly, implemented the codes in August 1994, with the majority of Civic licensees as signatories.

After considering the submissions that came forward, it was clear to the committee that the codes of practice and the whole principle of industry self-regulation had not worked here in the ACT. While the licensees involved were initially enthusiastic about complying with the codes, the fact is that there were a number of rogue licensees - if I could use that term - who had been unwilling to face up to their responsibilities. Unfortunately, this small group has spoilt the commitment and the cooperation of the others. The committee has, therefore, recommended that key parts of the codes need to be legislated for in some way. As the most effective and flexible way to do this is through regulation by making changes to the industry standards manual, the committee has recommended that a representative group be established to advise the Government on what changes to the manual should be made. At present the standards manual focuses on the physical construction of licensed premises. However, the inclusion of material from the codes of practice would broaden the nature of the manual to one that dealt largely with the conduct and control of premises. As the standards manual is a disallowable instrument, any proposed amendments to it will come before the Assembly.

Mr Speaker, the committee has four recommendations relating to education for bar and security staff employed in the liquor industry, for consumers and for school students. Currently, there are no legal requirements for bar and security staff to have any formal training or to have a working knowledge of the Liquor Act. As a means of providing for these categories of staff to be both professional and accountable to the community,

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