THE RUN DOWN - JULY 1 LEGISLATION CHANGES

Photo Credit: Brodie Hope Photography

Earlier this year the Queensland parliament voted on a Tackling Alcohol Violence Amendment bill. This bill had changes to the liquor act with two major changes being implemented on July 1 2016. To see the full bill go to https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/ACTS/2016/16AC004.pdf  

There has been a lot of public debate regarding these new laws and essentially they are in three parts, first a 12am ban on 'rapid consumption' drinks, a 3 am cessation of service and a 1am lockout in 3 am safe night precincts. It should be noted that the 1 am lockout will not take effect until February 2017.

At the moment Airlie Beach is deemed to be a 3am Safe Night precinct and is managed by the Safe Night Out Airlie Beach CBD Precinct inc. Over the next 6 months Safe Night Out Airlie Beach will be asked to complete a report for government to determine whether Airlie Beach will remain classified as a 3am Safe Night Precinct.

So what do the July 1 changes mean? Well firstly any venue inside a 3am Safe Night Precinct will have to cease service of alcohol at 3am with a 30 minute 'grace period' for patrons to finish their drinks. This means no more drinks can bee served or supplied after 3am. This essentially winds back the night 2 hours in Airlie Beach. If you are in a venue outside of a precinct then this cut off time is 2am, and when the lockout laws come into play they will not have one applied.

There are currently 15 Safe Night Precincts across the state your can find at more at this link. https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/liquor-gaming/safe-night-out-strategy/safe-night-precincts

What is a rapid consumption drink?

• A drink served in a small glass or container such as shooters, shots, bombs, test tubes, jelly shots, and other similar drinks.
• A drink prepared not he premises that contains more than 45ml of spirits or liqueur
• A pre-mixed alcoholic drink (RTD) containing more than 5% of alcohol or containing more alcohol than 2 standard drinks. (This does not include beer or wine these are exempt because they are not mixed with another liquid)

How will all this effect Airlie Beach? time will tell, there is a concern out there that just before midnight people will rush to order their shots before the cut off which could see people fairly intoxicated around this time. This is were a strong RSA at venues will play its part. There is also concern about more people trying to get home in a more concentrated time period which may cause some logistical problems on the street. We will be watching closely and reporting back to the government on this. The board with consultation with the PSCC have decided this week that on the first weekend of July we will operate the shuttle bus to try help get people off the street quickly and to see if there is a real need for additional transport options at peak periods.

There is also a concern that there will be a increase of 'after parties' at hotels and residential areas when people are not quite ready to stop socialising.

Long term how it will effect Airlie Beach? Again this will be hard to tell, for our nightlife to stay vibrant the public really need to support their venues and be open to changing their behaviours to possibly go out earlier and move their night life habits up two hours. Its really up to the patrons on how this will go, their behaviours in relation to the changes will either make it or break it. People need to get behind their venues and show up, if no-one comes then you might see the closure of venues and to see any more of our great venues close would be a very sad day for Airlie Beach.

So please SHOW UP and support our town and our venues. Also behave the point of going out is to have fun and socialise friends. If you see trouble starting walk-away, talk to staff and security or police and just be kind to one another. 

As they would say in Amsterdam "STAY CLASSY"