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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (23 September) . . Page.. 3102 ..

MR OSBORNE (continuing):

the committee recommends that appropriate training and a licensing or accreditation scheme be put in place for security staff, become mandatory and be phased in over a one-year period. The committee also recommends that general consumer education and education programs in schools be reviewed, to place greater emphasis on the responsible consumption of alcohol.

The committee has also recommended that the Government undertake a number of reviews. These relate to the operation of the pubcard, the trading hours of off-licences and the overall effectiveness of the Liquor Act. The Liquor Act provides the framework for the administration of the five types of liquor licences currently available in the ACT. As at 30 June this year, there were 12 general licences, 276 on-licences, 155 off-licences, 77 club licences and 24 special licences; a total of 544. The Act, among other things, also establishes the Liquor Licensing Board, lays down the expected conduct of licensees and outlines general alcohol-related offences.

The committee, Mr Speaker, was very concerned to be given the impression through several submissions that the everyday application of the Act in some areas was largely unworkable. One senior policeman went so far as to say that, while in his opinion many licensees paid lip-service to the code of practice, they also paid only lip-service to the provisions of the Liquor Act as well - a very worrying assessment from that police officer. The chairperson of the ACT Liquor Licensing Board also highlighted a number of frustrations in dealing with licensees who break the law. Given these frustrations, the committee believes that the effectiveness of the Act should be formally reviewed as soon as possible.

The final major recommendation concerns the establishment of a liquor industry advisory council to act as a consultative group for the Attorney-General. This recommendation has come forward from suggestions made by various licensees and industry bodies as a way of formally bringing their views to the attention of the Government. The committee understands that the New South Wales Liquor Industry Advisory Council works very well, and we believe that the establishment of a similar body in the ACT could be very beneficial to the community, the Government and the industry. The effectiveness of such a council, however, will largely depend on the amount of effort put into it, especially by the licensees and industry groups represented on it.

The final two recommendations, Mr Speaker, relate to issues which came to the attention of the committee during the inquiry and which the committee would like to have pursued further but could not do so because they were unrelated to the codes of practice. However, the committee believes that each warrants further investigation by the Government. Two of these issues - namely, whether judicial notice should be given in the identification of alcohol for the offence of consumption of liquor in certain places, and whether special licences, at a premium, should be introduced for late-night traders - directly relate to two Bills currently before the Assembly. Unfortunately, these pieces of legislation will be considered by members without these two relevant suggestions having been included.

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