Bars and clubs 'cutting staff and losing money' after 12 months of compulsory ID scans
Updated
After 12 months of compulsory ID scanning in safe night precincts, many bar and club operators say they are hurting after a sharp drop in patronage and they want the State Government to overhaul the system.
Aimed at curbing alcohol and drug-fuelled violence, the laws require venues open past midnight in the prescribed areas to scan IDs after 10:00pm.
There are safe night precincts (SNPs) in every major Queensland city. In Brisbane they cover the CBD, most of Fortitude Valley and the inner west (including Caxton Street).
With an independent review into the efficacy of the scanners underway, many venue operators are calling on the Government to implement a different system and to take better account of losses suffered by small business owners.
Aiden Beiers owns and operates three small bars in Fortitude Valley and said one of his venues has stopped trading on Tuesdays and Wednesdays because of low patronage.
On nights they did open, he said profits were often hard to come by.
"A lot of those nights tend to break even, it's enough for the band to get by and enough for the venue to get by," Mr Beiers said.
"After the implementation of the ID scanners that extra added cost was the difference between, 'yeah we can keep running', to 'oh, we're actually losing out now and we're going to have to adapt'.
"When you add that extra security cost with a set amount of hours to be putting them on, it was literally the difference between us staying open and not staying open."
Ryan Lane manages The Gresham bar in the Brisbane CBD and said he was rolling with the punches, but admitted the venue had taken a hit from ID scanning.
"We've certainly seen a large difference in trade from 10:00pm," he said.
Mr Lane said everyone was still trying to get their heads around the "rushed" legislation, which had caused embarrassing moments like when he had to refuse entry to a group of French winemakers.
"It's doing damage financially and to the reputation of our industry," he said.
"Rather than the system we have currently, where we are scanning every single person trying to look for the one guy who did something wrong, we should have a passive scanning system that will recognise somebody who has done something wrong.
"That way, everybody else gets to continue their night without being treated as guilty before innocent at the front door before entering a venue."
In the past 12 months, Queensland police have issued more than 4,000 notices banning people from SNPs after they broke the law in one of the areas.
Acting Inspector Ian Park said the scanners were a useful tool for policing work, but he could not point to a marked decline in alcohol-fuelled violence in the precincts.
"Whether the scanners have made the direct impact is probably a little bit early for us to say," Inspector Park said.
"In general terms the safe night precincts, not only within Fortitude Valley but across the state, are safe places and that will always be our aim."
Venue owners in regions also 'doing it tough'
Before the introduction of ID scanners, the Caxton Street bar precinct near Lang Park had 12 licenced venues, 10 of which operated into the early hours.
Ross Farquhar from the Caxton Hotel, who is also on the Queensland Hoteliers Association board, said since the introduction of the scanners there were fewer licenced venues in the precinct and only three traded late.
"Sometimes on a Friday, Saturday night, if you come here at 2:00am, the tumbleweeds are blowing down," Mr Farquhar said.
Mr Farquhar said operators in areas outside of the busy Fortitude Valley SNP were also doing it tough.
"They're having a lot of trouble — Gladstone, Rockhampton, Townsville, Toowoomba, there's a lot of people not happy with it."
Mark Napier, owner of Townsville's Mad Cow Tavern, said he had laid off 10 full-time equivalent staff and trade had fallen by 30 per cent in the past year.
He said the liquor accord in place before the scanners was already working.
"Particularly for Townsville and regional areas, the ID scanners were unnecessary to implement," Mr Napier said.
"We were on track with local government and police already in curbing alcohol-fuelled violence in our area," he said.
"I think the State Government needs to look into the impact on what they're having on small business in terms of economic loss or what it's doing to our employees."
ID scanning 'welcomed by responsible venue owners'
A spokesperson for Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said a comprehensive evaluation of ID scanning would be handed to the Government in October.
"Anecdotally, we're aware of a trend downwards in assaults in safe night precincts but we're waiting to see the hard data," the spokesperson said.
"In the meantime, we know police, doctors, and emergency workers, have welcomed the ID scanners.
"The ID scanners have also been welcomed by responsible licensed venue owners who want their patrons to be safe.
"We're also hearing that venues outside of safe night precincts are choosing to install the scanners, despite not being required to, because of the many benefits."
Topics: laws, law-crime-and-justice, activism-and-lobbying, government-and-politics, politics-and-government, food-and-beverage, industry, business-economics-and-finance, brisbane-4000, townsville-4810, qld, australia
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