As featured in the latest edition of QHA Review Magazine
Late nights in Queensland hotels can be great for business, but they can come with a legal twist. If your hotel is located within a Safe Night Precinct (SNP), you are subject to a unique regulatory framework designed to:
- minimise harm, and the potential for harm, from the abuse and misuse of alcohol and drugs, and associated violence; and
- minimise alcohol and drug-related disturbances or public disorder, within those precincts.
A SNP is a designated area in Queensland’s major entertainment zones, including CBD precincts such as Airlie Beach, Brisbane, Broadbeach, Bundaberg, Cairns, Gladstone, Ipswich, Mackay, Rockhampton, Surfers Paradise, Toowoomba, and Townsville, as well as other areas like Fortitude Valley and Inner West Brisbane.
These should not be mistaken for just a geographical label, though, a SNP requires you to abide by different obligations to other licensed hotels located outside a SNP, such as:
- If a local board is in place for the SNP, membership for licensees is mandatory (subject to a few exceptions) and a failure to join the local board comes with substantial financial penalties;
- The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) may establish a consultative committee to advise and assist the local board including government employees (such as police officers, OLGR employees, and local government employees) and other community representatives from organisations who provide services in the precinct who you will deal with at meetings of the local board;
- Police may issue banning notices preventing a person from entering any particular venue, a SNP, or an area which is a reasonable distance from those areas;
- If your hotel is approved to trade past midnight on a permanent basis or a condition on your liquor licence requires to operate a networked ID scanner, you are required to operate an approved networked ID scanner after 10:00 pm and must prevent patron entry after 10:00pm whenever an approved operational ID scanner is not available, a patron does not produce photo ID, or the patron is subject to a banning order for the premises;
- A hotel in a SNP can sell alcohol until 3:00am (as opposed to 2:00am outside of an SNP) if the hotel has the necessary extended hours approvals. However, this does not change the fact that rapid intoxication drinks can only be sold up to 12 midnight; and
- A hotel which has a condition on its liquor licence imposing a lock out must comply with this condition.
Accordingly, it is strongly recommended that licensed hotels operating in an SNP should ensure that they, at a minimum:
- Review liquor licence conditions to ensure ongoing compliance, whether it is trading hours, ID scanning, crowd controllers, CCTV etc;
- Ensure their ID scanner(s) are approved, linked, and operational at all times and comply with all obligations in the event of a system failure;
- Are alert to banned patrons and ensure staff are trained on the procedures if they have to deal with a banned patron; and
- Invest in staff training to ensure that staff are aware of all of the obligations that come with operating a licensed hotel generally and those specific to SNPs.
If you own, manage or are considering acquiring a hotel in a SNP, and are wanting to review/update your policies, require advice on compliance, require assistance with liquor/gaming applications, or require assistance in relation to an acquisition, we strongly encourage you to contact an experience professional for tailored advice.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me on (07) 3224 0230 if I can assist you with this.
