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NDRI Seminar: Life in a kingdom of wowsers - impact of NSW’s lockout laws

Presented by Dr Don Weatherburn, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research

 
Monday 3 December 2018, 11am-noon
Technology Park, Building 603, Level 2 Seminar Room (Room 213), Sarich Way, Bentley, WA (map)

On 21 January, 2014 the NSW State Government announced new restrictions (‘the January 2014 reforms’) on licensed premises to curb alcohol-related violence in Sydney. All the initiatives, except one, targeted two well-known entertainment areas of Sydney known as the Kings Cross and Sydney CBD Entertainment Precincts. The restrictions included:

  • 1.30am lockouts at pubs and bars, registered clubs, nightclubs and karaoke bars in the two targeted areas
  • 3am cessation of alcohol service in venues in these areas
  • A prohibition on the granting of any new liquor licences across the two target areas
  • A ban on takeaway alcohol sales after 10pm across NSW
  • The extension of temporary and long-term banning orders issued to designated “trouble-makers” to prevent them entering most licensed premises in the target areas
  • Introduction of a new risk-based licence fee for all licensed premises where the annual fee depends on the venue’s licence type, compliance history and trading hours
  • Suspension of online responsible service of alcohol training (in favour of face to face).

This seminar presents and discusses evidence bearing on the impact of the laws on trends in non-domestic assault in NSW both in the immediate aftermath of the lockout laws and over the longer term.

Don Weatherburn has been Director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research since 1988. He was awarded a Public Service Medal in January 1998, an Alumni Award for Community Service by the University of Sydney in 2000 and made a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia in 2006. He is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Science at the University of New South Wales, a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University and has published three books and more than 200 peer-reviewed articles, reports, and book chapters on crime and criminal justice.

The video recording of this seminar can be viewed on YouTube at https://youtu.be/EQXfU_EfS-s

Posted on: 13 Nov 2018

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