Page 2382 - Week 06 - Thursday, 24 June 2010
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regulator. Under the new model the applicant for a licence will be required to display a sign at the proposed premises and publish a notice in the Canberra Times telling the community of the intention to open a licensed venue at that location. The community, for the first time, will then have an opportunity to raise potential impacts with the commissioner, who could then discuss those concerns with the applicant with a view to them managing identified risks. Liquor licences will not be issued in circumstances where applicants are unable to adequately manage risks associated with the sale of alcohol.
Another component of the information sharing model is the new risk assessment management plan, or RAMP, which all licensees and commercial permit holders will need to complete to obtain a licence or a permit. The RAMP will set out how a licensee or permit holder plans to operate the liquor business so as to mitigate risks associated with the sale of alcohol.
The use of a RAMP is fundamental to the commissioner’s capacity to assess how risks will be managed, taking into account any concerns raised by the community. Licensees will need to manage risks such as noise levels, security, transport, queuing outside the venue and dealing with minors and intoxicated people. There is provision in the bill for a licensee or commercial permit holder to seek amendment to the approved RAMP by making application to the commissioner. Failure to comply with an approved RAMP will be an offence.
The process of information sharing will not cease after the applicant has obtained a licence. The commissioner will be able to respond to community feedback and the licensee will be able to apply to the commissioner for amendment of certain aspects of the licence. For example, a licensee wanting to change the nature of their business from, say, a restaurant to a nightclub will need to obtain approval from the commissioner before doing so. Notification of an intention to change the nature of a licensee’s business will trigger the new public consultation process and the local community will be able to raise with the commissioner any impacts the new business might have on them and their local community. Future decisions made by the commissioner will be informed by taking into account the views of the community and the liquor industry. The new liquor regulation will set out a methodology for the commissioner to apply when assessing the impact a new liquor licence or special event might have on the local community.
People wanting to sell liquor at special events will need to apply for a liquor permit. The bill introduces two classes of permit: commercial and non-commercial. A commercial permit will authorise a permit holder to sell liquor up to a retail value stated in the permit. An example of a commercial permit might be a stall at the Multicultural Festival.
A non-commercial permit authorises a not-for-profit organisation to sell liquor up to a retail value stated in the permit. Examples of non-commercial permits might be a school fete raising money through the sale of unopened, home-labelled wine or a local community theatre selling alcoholic beverages at intermission.
Commercial permits authorising large social events, unlike non-commercial permits, will be subject to similar requirements as licences—for example, managing the risks
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