Key aspects of a scheme designed to crack down on poor behaviour by NSW pubs and clubs will be significantly wound back under changes proposed by the state government following a review.
Under the "three strikes" scheme introduced by the Coalition government in 2011, pubs face the loss of their licence for serious breaches under the Liquor Act. For clubs, the ultimate penalty is the removal of a licensee.
A first strike is automatically incurred for transgressions including sale of alcohol to minors, with second and third strikes for subsequent breaches applied at the discretion of the Secretary of Liquor and Gaming NSW.
But a bill introduced to Parliament by Racing Minister Paul Toole removes the automatic nature of a first strike for a breach as well as reducing the types of breaches attracting a strike.
Instead, the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) will decide if a first strike - and subsequent strikes - are given.
Where under the present rules a strike remains in place for three years, the bill introduces an avenue for a venue's licensee to appeal to ILGA after six months to have the strike removed for good behaviour.
As well, a strike can no longer be laid against clubs and pubs on the NSW violent venues list for a range of breaches of their conditions, including failure to impose extra security and a ban on glass containers and shots after midnight.
The proposed changes follow earlier legislation that means a strike is now attached to a venue's licensee instead of the venue itself, after lobbying from the hotels industry that complained it was causing banks to revalue their businesses.
They followed a review of the scheme by former High Court judge Ian Callinan and lobbying by the Australian Hotels Association.
The earlier legislation also watered down the penalties faced by pubs and clubs under a new risk-based assessment scheme due for introduction this year.
Tony Brown, a spokesman for the NSW/ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance, who argued for a strengthening of the laws, said the changes "significantly water down existing laws which were already full of loopholes and heavily biased towards industry".
"It gives them an unprecedented lack of legal accountability and exemplifies how the alcohol industry in NSW is calling all the shots," he said.
But a spokesman for Mr Toole said mandatory first strikes did not discriminate between minor and serious offences and "it is more appropriate that ILGA consider each incident on a case-by-case basis".
He said a six-month review mechanism "encourages licensees to take proactive steps to improve their practices and operate responsibly".
Paring back the types of offences incurring a strike "will ensure the scheme is targeted at more serious breaches of the liquor laws", he said.
