During a parliamentary inquiry into the effectiveness of Sydney’s lockout laws, the Police Association of New South Wales have recommended expanding the restrictions to “various alcohol fuelled crime hotspots throughout the state”.
Assistant NSW Police Commissioner Michael Fuller told the parliamentary inquiry that officers have noticed a drop in assaults in the area since the lockout laws were introduced and asked for them to expand the restrictions across the state.
“Last year there were 22 what we call grievous bodily harm assaults,” Assistant Commissioner Fuller said. “This year in that period from February 24 to August there were two.”
“It would be possible for regional communities that experience unacceptable levels of alcohol-related violence to achieve the same sort of net benefits,” said the Police Association in its submission to the inquiry.
“We ask that the Government act to expand the restrictions across NSW to enable all residents to enjoy an improved amenity similar to what the residents in Newcastle, Kings Cross and Potts Point are currently experiencing.”
The lockout laws came into effect earlier this year as an attempt to curb alcohol-fuelled violence in Sydney’s CBD and Kings Cross. They involve locking out customers from pubs and clubs in certain Sydney hotspots from 1.30am and ending alcohol service at 3am.
However, the Bureau of Crime Statistics director Don Weatherburn has warned against emphatic claims that lockout laws are working, saying that it’s too soon to tell. “Anybody who is claiming success in reducing alcohol-related assaults because they’ve fallen since January this year is just misleading themselves, if not others,” he told he told the inquiry, as reported by the ABC.
He added to Fairfax that the downward trend of violence in the Sydney CBD and Kings Cross “began well before the lockout laws took place” and said it would take at least until Christmas for a proper analysis.
Additionally, Fairfax are reporting that while there has been an average 28.2 per cent drop in non-domestic assaults inside Kings Cross’s licensed premises over the last two years, there’s been no change in regards to incidents occurring outside the venues.
A full report on the effectiveness of the lockout laws is expected to be released before the end of 2014.
