Twelve months ago today, lockout laws in the Sydney CBD and Oxford Street (with the exception of Kings Cross) were wound back on the recommendation of a NSW Parliamentary Committee report into Sydney's night-time economy.
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Representatives from all sides of politics supported the report, including the final recommendation that the NSW Government consider reviewing Newcastle's liquor licensing conditions.
These conditions, sometimes referred to as The Newcastle Solution, prevent people from entering hotels in the Newcastle CBD and Hamilton after 1.30am and ban cocktails and shots after 10pm.
Some have credited the lockout laws with halving the number of assaults in licensed premises in the Newcastle CBD during the past 12 years.
However, a more robust examination of the data shows that during this time the rate of assaults in licensed premises across all of NSW has also fallen by 50 per cent. Critically, this has been achieved without lockouts or bans on cocktails.
In places such as Parramatta, Penrith, Wollongong, and Campbelltown, the reduction in assaults has fallen by a greater rate than Newcastle during the same period, while closer to home in Maitland, the reduction has been 64.5 per cent, a success the hospitality industry has achieved in partnership with the local community and police, and without lockout laws.
Supporters claim that without the Newcastle Solution, alcohol-related assaults in Newcastle and Hamilton hotels would have continued to increase or failed to reduce. For this to be true, Newcastle would have had to defy the downward trend in alcohol-related assaults in licensed premises that has been occurring across NSW since 2008.
A safer and more reasonable outcome for Newcastle appears possible under such a review.
With doubt over the claim that lockouts are responsible for driving down Newcastle's alcohol-related assaults, it is sensible for the NSW Government's promised review of local liquor licensing conditions to occur in 2021.
Without it, we can't know whether lockouts laws are playing a meaningful role in making our city safer.
What we do already know is that during the first two years of the lockout laws in 2008, assaults in licensed venues in the Newcastle CBD fell from 152 to 99 according to data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. During the next two years, while assaults across NSW continued to fall, they rose to 133 and 136 locally.
An analysis of assault rates in Newcastle hotels compared with the rest of NSW is critical to any discussion about lockout laws because of the significant number of other measures that were introduced at the same time the lockout laws started, but are never acknowledged for helping to make Newcastle safer.
This includes the largest set of reforms to the Liquor Act, the Liquor Regulations and the Gaming and Liquor Administration Act, which were applied across NSW on July 1, 2008.
A breach of the Liquor Act can now result in the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) cancelling or suspending a venue's liquor licence, or imposing a penalty of up to $210,000.
If our intention is to maximise the effectiveness of measures to reduce violence, we need to know which aspect of the package has had what impact.
Government continues to introduce reforms to ensure the transformation of the hospitality industry. Just last month the NSW Parliament supported the 24-hour economy bill, which introduced a demerit point system for pubs and clubs that includes suspensions if they accrue four demerit points over a three-year period. Should a venue accrue six points, ILGA has the power to permanently disqualify the licence holder.
Not only do the police and ILGA have the regulatory power to shut down irresponsible venues, but as a nation we are drinking more responsibly.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that Australians drink less alcohol today than at any point during the past almost 60 years.
Recognising Newcastle has changed significantly during the past decade, the sensible next step should be an independent review supported by a controlled trial that safely and incrementally removes lockout conditions while supporting our local hospitality and tourism operators.
Working with our community, NSW Police, ILGA, the Australian Hotels Association and the City of Newcastle, a safer and more reasonable outcome for Newcastle appears possible under such a review.
A trial that incrementally removes local lockout conditions will give us the evidence to put this debate to bed, once and for all.
Jeremy Bath is CEO of the City of Newcastle
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