Revealed: How controversial lock-out laws are failing to stop alcohol-fuelled violence and encouraging ‘pre-loading’ instead
- Griffith University study found Queensland lock-out laws didn’t reduce violence
- The three-year examination found young people pre-loaded before going out
- Associate Professor Grant Devilly said 2016 laws had failed intended purpose
- Queensland laws were introduced two years after NSW put in 1.30am lock-outs
Controversial lock-out laws are failing to stop alcohol-fuelled violence and are encouraging young people to get drunk before going out, a study has found.
Griffith University examined the Queensland Labor government’s decision in 2016 to stop nightclubs from selling drinks at 3am instead of 5am.
Alcohol shot sales at these venues were also banned after midnight.
Controversial lock-out laws are failing to stop alcohol-fuelled violence and are encouraging young people to get drunk before going out, a three-year study has found (pictured is a young man at Kings Cross in Sydney)
Study author Associate Professor Grant Devilly said these laws designed to reduce alcohol-fuelled violence, following a series of fatal coward punch attacks, had failed.
‘Because they were coming in more drunk, they were still at the same level,’ he told ABC Radio. ‘So we’re not seeing much of a change.’
The report found a noticeable reduction in the number of people entering nightclub entertainment districts with zero-alcohol readings.
‘Exit blood alcohol readings were less consistent but showed some evidence of an increase,’ Associate Professor Devilly said.
‘Crime statistics and patrons’ self-reported experiences of violence did not change.’
Griffith University examined the Queensland Labor government’s decision in 2016 to stop nightclubs from selling drinks at 3am instead of 5am (pictured is Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley)
Associate Professor Devilly, from the Brisbane university’s School of Applied Psychology and the Griffith Criminology Institute, said the Queensland laws had failed to encourage younger people to go out earlier.
He urged lawmakers to encourage alcohol consumption in venues that served food in a bid to reduce alcohol pre-loading.
The Queensland government introduced 1am lockout law in July 2016 but backtracked on this six months later.
Pubs and clubs were banned from serving alcohol after 2am, but could continuing serving liquor until 3am if they were in designated ‘safe night’ areas.
Takeaway sales of alcohol after 10pm were banned, copying an approach introduced in New South Wales in January 2014.
They were championed by cabinet minister Dr Anthony Lynham, who was a maxillofacial surgeon before he was elected to the Queensland Parliament.
The NSW government is considering a relaxation of the lock-out laws it introduced five years ago which has turned Kings Cross from a thriving nightclub district into a ghost town (pictured)
Five years ago, former NSW Liberal premier Barry O’Farrell introduced controversial lock-out laws banning city pubs and nightclubs from Kings Cross to Darling Harbour, from allowing anyone to enter after 1.30am.
It also banned the serving of drinks after 3am.
The NSW government laws followed a series of fatal coward punches, including one which killed Bowral teenager Thomas Kelly in 2012 as he was visiting Kings Cross with his girlfriend.
Deloitte Access Economics released a report in February which calculated the lock-out laws had cost the Sydney economy as much as $16 billion a year.
The NSW government is considering a relaxation of the lock-out laws it introduced five years ago which has turned Kings Cross from a thriving nightclub district into a ghost town.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Dr Lynham and Queensland Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath.