Today the eagerly awaited report by the Independent Review Committee on the Liquor Control Act 1988 (WA) (Act) was published.
The report contains 141 recommendations which relate to a wide range of provisions under the Act including technical matters as well as how applications are handled and also licensing authority policies and processes. Some recommendations are for additional regulation whilst other recommendations propose some relaxing of regulation. There are recommendations for additional offence provisions and increased penalties. Greater consultation by applicants with the community has been proposed as well as community education programmes. A categorising system for licences has been proposed to be reintroduced into the Act separating different licence types into high risk and low risk categories. Issues relating to juveniles also feature in the report.
These are just some of the many points arising from the recommendations. A more in-depth analysis of the report will be provided in our next Liquor Snapshot.
The report represents an important step in the future of the State’s liquor, hospitality, entertainment and event industries, although it remains to be seen what, if any, legislative change will actually eventuate and how the licensing authority will interpret any amended legislation.
