By Ian Neubauer
The NSW Government will phase out a controversial ‘hot list’ of 48 problem venues it has used to target venues in a state-wide crackdown that went into effect in December last year.
The AHA and publicans whose premises featured on the list had long maintained it was flawed, saying it merely listed the number of assaults reported in the premises and did not take into account the number of patrons that visited each year.
The new restrictions include a 2:00am curfew, a limit on the number of drinks patrons can purchase at one time and a controversial 10-minute ‘time out’ rule that requires venues to stop service for 10 minutes an hour every hour after midnight.
In place of the hot list, the government will fulfil a promise it made in October of last year to create a rating system.
The rating system will access the safety record of every licensed premises in the state and rate it accordingly, and give patrons a means of gauging the safety of particular pubs and clubs.
The rating system will also include consultation with liquor accords and in effect satisfy a key demand of licensees who felt the old system had taken their voice out of the equation.
It will also reward premises with good records and take into account the fact that assaults that take place outside a premises are not necessarily the responsibility of or even linked to those premises.
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