From the President

Perils of Lazy Law Making

DAVID BASHEER – AHA|SA PRESIDENT

WATCH VIDEO: https://youtu.be/Pv8e62HVxJs

We appear to be suffering from knee jerk reactions in both liquor and gaming, as the law makers seek to further impose themselves on our Industry.

The Tasmanian Government, with no consultation with industry, announced they will introduce draconian legislation that will require mandatory pre-commitment cards to play gaming machines in that State.

Despite the failure of this approach, meaning no jurisdiction in the world outside of Scandinavia has pursued such legislation, the Tasmanian Government has ignored the opportunity to investigate better options that takes into account the technology available today.

Facial recognition in gaming rooms has proven hugely successful in South Australia in dealing with already barred patrons. It is now being explored throughout the country.

That is just one aspect of the patron care package. Tasmania does not have Automated Risk Monitoring or a training regime even close to what we have here. But their Government has bypassed all of those options and fast forwarded to a lazy solution with questionable outcomes for the industry and the player.

In NSW there is a move towards carded play to combat concerns around money laundering.

Our modest load up limits here are a world away from Casinos or indeed NSW pubs and clubs, that have a $5000 load up limit. This is something we have ensured local decision makers are well aware of.

MISGUIDED LIQUOR CLAMP A MAJOR CONCERN

Closer to home, and as I have written about previously, we are seeing laws around liquor purchasing quickly tightening. This is a real concern for our industry. Regional members are understandably frustrated by a range of factors in relation to this issue.

Liquor restrictions limiting the amount and type of alcohol that can be purchased, and the requirement for licensees to use a new identification scanning tool are now in place in:

• Ceduna

• Coober Pedy

• Port Augusta

• Whyalla

These initiatives have been determined and introduced by the Licencing Commissioner as a tool to address alcohol related harm, violence and anti social behaviour in particular communities. Bottle shops cannot trade before 11am and customers can only purchase two bottles of spirits or one two litre cask of wine or one bottle of fortified wine/port per day.

Whilst Coober Pedy and Ceduna have been the subject of significant liquor restrictions for some time, the initial trial of restrictions in Port Augusta since February of this year has now not only become a permanent state of affairs, but has also been implemented in the Whyalla region. The situation in Port Pirie is currently under review and discussions as to what can be done in the Adelaide CBD have now commenced.

It is fair to say these new measures caught many by surprise, however the local hotels and the AHA|SA have been involved in discussions for some time.

Regulators have been pushing this ‘regional restriction creep’ for many years, but that does not make it a correct measure in our eyes. Restriction of supply is a blunt instrument that does nothing to focus on and support those most in need. Rather it triggers the balloon principle - that is, squeeze something in one place and there is every chance it will pop out somewhere else. And it has. Firstly Whyalla, probably Port Pirie and now the CBD.

Restrictions on quantities of liquor sold per person per day unsurprisingly led to immediate workarounds. It soon became evident that multiple purchases were being made by individuals in each bottle shop across the restricted region. This in turn delivered a two-fold response:

1. To keep squeezing that balloon (our previous cynical quip that they would soon reach Gepps Cross now seems to be more of a prediction)

2. At the same time introduce technology to monitor transactions, now presenting itself in the form of an app called ID Scan, recently trialled in Ceduna to replace the ID Tect System.

November 2 was the Go Live date for ongoing restrictions and the use of ID Scan in Port Augusta and Whyalla. Licensees are required to scan a person’s driver’s licence or Proof of Age card (unless of course it is in digital form in which case the app can’t read it and the details will need to be entered manually by frazzled staff). We are seeing the sort of abuse of our staff that we saw during COVID-19. It is a serious concern for the wellbeing of our people.

The app will detect whether the person lives in a prescribed area and will record the purchase of any restricted quantities of alcohol. As the app will monitor all bottle shops in the region – and potentially further according to the Commissioner - licensees will be notified if a person attempts to make subsequent purchases that will exceed the individual’s daily limit, resulting in a contravention of the venue’s licence conditions.

For this to work it means that every person entering a bottle shop wishing to make any purchase must have their identification scanned and recorded. If a customer has been tech savvy enough to have stored their licence in their Apple wallet, well they will just have to wait, along with the queue behind them, until the attendant is able to enter all details by hand.

Taken to its logical conclusion it also means that a wholly effective system would require application in every bottle shop across the state - every regional town has a neighbouring community, the CBD neighbouring suburbs and so on and so forth.

Blunt, broad reaching tools have blunt and broad reaching effects.

Lowest common denominator approaches nearly always mean that the masses are at the least inconvenienced, and at worst penalised for the errant behaviour of some.

If you are in an affected area wanting to buy alcohol for your 50th birthday bash or your daughter’s engagement party, consider the consequences.

Liquor restrictions based on control of supply and hours of trade may be an inevitable and unavoidable short-term measure that acts as a circuit breaker in either acute or chronic episodes of alcohol related harm in communities. When weighed against the backdrop of the economic impact on licensees and public inconvenience, it is not a measure that is sustainable in the medium and longer term.

Restrictions on supply and the policing of these sales is only one way to address any form of substance abuse. These communities are crying out for increased access to support from help services and other allied support and health services. It is now time for us to not just sharpen our tools, but find improved measures that don’t disrupt the vast majority of responsible causal drinkers. More importantly, it must address what we all acknowledge is a significant and complex problem that has seen generations of failure.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS: OMINOUS SIGNS

In an environment where we are still in post pandemic recovery and facing significant inflationary and wage pressures which are contributing to reduced profit margins, the proposed changes on the industrial relations front could see even greater unnecessary pressures being placed on our small and medium operators.

The recent changes to annualised salaries from 1 September in the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2020 have created an additional layer of complexity when trying to employ staff under a salaried arrangement. Furthermore, the recent Annual Wage Increase by the Fair Work Commission of 5.2% to the National Minimum Wage is the largest increase we’ve seen to wages in many years placing huge pressure on labour costs.

The AHA will always support measures to try and address family and domestic violence wherever possible. However, the cost of implementing measures to address family and domestic violence should not be worn by employers. The passing of recent legislation to introduce 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave will inevitably create another additional cost that our small and medium operators cannot afford to carry.

The Albanese Government has also recently introduced the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. The Bill seeks to make sweeping amendments to workplace laws across Australia and whilst we welcome the opportunity to reform industrial relations in Australia, it cannot be to the detriment of the Hotel Industry with potential increased disputation and unsustainable wage pressures. Our small and family operators can not be treated like big business!

Some of the changes that are being proposed in the Bill are a positive move by the Albanese Government. We would support amendments being made to the Better Off Overall Test to address the inflexibilities that currently exist when determining whether an enterprise agreement should be approved or not. We also support the simplification of some of the pre-approval requirements that currently need to be met for an enterprise agreement to be approved.

We remain concerned, however, with several parts of the Bill that could have the potential of creating greater disputation and costs to our members as greater multiemployer bargaining provisions and greater powers for the Fair Work Commission to be involved in bargaining disputes and disputes in relation to flexible working arrangements.

The AHA through our national office will be making submissions into the Senate inquiry into the Bill. We remain committed to continuing to advocate for the interests of our members at a state and national level to ensure that all our members including the small and medium operators can maintain their financial viability.