Minister for Hospitality, Gaming and Racing Troy Grant said 93 licensed venues now have strikes for serious offences under the Liquor Act, including seven venues with second strikes, and two venues with third strikes.
"Since the scheme began in 2012, 102 strikes for serious liquor offences have been recorded by venues across the state including hotels, nightclubs, bottle shops, registered clubs, restaurants, karaoke bars and licensed vessels," Grant said.
Variety of offences
"Strikes have been imposed for offences including permitting intoxication, selling alcohol to an intoxicated person, selling alcohol outside authorised hours, selling alcohol to a minor, permitting violence on a licensed premises, and failing to comply with licence conditions including special conditions imposed under the Three Strikes and Violent Venues schemes and in the Kings Cross precinct.
"Venues incurring strikes are effectively on a good behaviour bond for three years as any further convictions in that period could lead to second and third strikes.
Three Strikes and out
"A third strike can result in the imposition of licence conditions, licence suspension for up to 12 months, licence cancellation and a moratorium on a new liquor licence being granted for the same business operators at the venue for up to 12 months, and/or disqualification of a licensee for any period of time.
"For registered clubs, a third strike can result in imposition of licence conditions, disqualification of a club secretary, dismissal of any or all of the club directors, and/or the appointment of an administrator to manage the club.
"The Office of Liquor, Gaming & Racing (OLGR) assesses venues incurring strikes, increases compliance monitoring of their operations, and imposes extra conditions to address any identified shortfalls to reduce the risk of further strikes, with 45 venues incurring extra conditions to date," Grant said.
Venues on the Three Strikes register will pay more under NSW's risk-based annual liquor licensing fee scheme to contribute to the additional regulatory effort they create.
Future loading
"From 2016, venues on the Three Strikes register, Violent Venues List, or caught breaching licence conditions will be liable for risk-based loadings including a compliance history loading, a patron capacity loading, and also a location loading if they are located in the Kings Cross or Sydney CBD Entertainment precincts.
"The NSW Government is serious about ensuring licensees adhere to their obligations to safeguard patrons and venues across the entertainment precinct," Grant said.
