Page 4094 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010
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and debate the bill in isolation from those elements of his law reform. Any reform which this bill by itself does not achieve must be considered as a whole. For this Assembly and the liquor and hospitality industries and the public in general to be able to consider the reforms and, indeed, whether they are reforms at all, we must be allowed to consider the whole package of reforms, not just one element of them.
But, Madam Assistant Speaker, my concerns do not stop here. I am advised that the Office of Regulatory Services failed to tell all licensees of the new proposed legislation. The ORS really only spoke to the big end of town. Many small business operators—the suburban bars, taverns and restaurants—only heard about the exposure draft of the bill in the last week before the submissions were due. Madam Assistant Speaker, I was invited to a meeting of small tavern owners a number of months ago—in May—and, for many of those people, they had not previously had any opportunity to discuss these matters with anyone in this Assembly. Following that, at my suggestion, they approached both the minister and the Greens to discuss their concerns. I understand that they spoke with Mr Rattenbury, who gave them a hearing, but to this day they have not had their request for a meeting with the minister even acknowledged, let alone been given a chance to see the minister on their concerns.
The Office of Regulatory Services really only communicated with the peak industries. This is not to in any way denigrate the work done by the peak industry bodies; they do a good job. I have had excellent relationships and excellent discussions with both the AHA and the licensed clubs in relation to the implementation of this legislation. But not everybody is picked up by the AHA and the licensed clubs. The Restaurant and Catering Association seems to have gone completely unconsulted on this legislation.
It is also worth noting some of the elements of this bill in detail. The attorney in his presentation speech identified eight key elements of the bill: new harm minimisation and community safety principles; new regulatory powers for the Commissioner for Fair Trading; new liquor licensing networks; strengthening the integrity of liquor licenses; stronger protection for children and young people; new police powers and offences—I also note that an additional 10 police were funded in the 2010-11 budget, to be known as the liquor licensing team—new liquor licensing fees; and there will be a review of the whole legislation in two years time.
Compliance with the act will be a licence or permit condition, carrying a sanction of occupational discipline through ACAT. Community consultation will be required for all licence applications, including on the suitability of the premises, location and the person managing the premises. The Commissioner for Fair Trading will determine occupancy loadings based on, but not exceeding, recommendations from the chief fire officer. There will be two classes of permit—commercial and non-commercial. The commissioner will have discretion to decide occupancy loadings. There will be a range of licence or permit integrity measures, including information sharing requirements and preparation of and amendments to risk assessment management plans—called RAMPs—by licensees and commercial permit holders. Licensees and commercial permit holders and staff who serve liquor, including crowd control staff, will be required to undertake responsible service of alcohol training and obtain an RSA certificate. The commissioner will approve RSA courses and trainers.
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