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As seen in the August edition of the QHA Review.
With one financial year behind us and a new one underway, EOFY parties, football finals and the Melbourne Cup on the horizon make this a busy trading period for hotels across the state. As we know, bigger functions can sometimes lead to a spike in unpleasant behaviour from patrons, so we thought it timely to provide a quick refresher on the powers of investigators at your venues.
Investigators and their powers
An investigator can be a police officer or any other person authorised by the Chief Executive of the OLGR. They must be issued with an identity card and cannot exercise their powers unless they show you their identity card first. You should always ask the investigators to produce their identity card so you know who you are dealing with before they commence their investigation.
An investigator has limited powers to enter and search the premises under the Liquor Act 1992 (the Act) for the purpose of:
Once an investigator is lawfully on the premises, then they have broad powers to exercise their duty including but not limited to:
Your obligations
You, your staff and patrons must:
You should let anyone being questioned by an investigator know that they do not have to answer an investigator if they believe they will incriminate themselves by doing so. The right for an investigator to ask questions is a broad power, and allows investigators to request you, your staff and patrons to attend an interview. The interviews are generally recorded.
If you or your staff are requested to attend an interview, you should consider whether you need to:
It is a fineable offence if you do not comply with an investigator's requests without a reasonable excuse.
Additional compliance requirements for venues in the Brisbane City Council area
It is important to note that there are some requirements specific to venues in the Brisbane City Council area, including:
CCTV
Incident register
If you have any queries in relation to your rights and obligations where an investigator has attended your venue, please contact Mullins on 07 3224 0230.
Article written by Curt Schatz (Managing Partner) and Scott Vanderwolf (Associate).
"The content of this publication is for reference purposes only. It is current at the date of publication. This content does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be obtained before taking any action based on this publication."