Lock-Out Law Case Study

In February 2014, the ‘lock-out’ laws were introduced in the Sydney CBD Entertainment Precinct, New South Wales (NSW) and have been controversial since its inception. The decision to introduce the law was due to the tragic death in Kings Cross on New Year 's Eve in 2013. The victim was named Daniel Christie, an 18 year old male killed from a one punch attack struck by Shaun McNeil. Changes made to the laws surrounding the sale and consumption of alcohol during the night, including 1:30am lockouts on pubs and bars, 3:00am last drinks at places such as hotels, registered clubs, night clubs and licensed karaoke bars, and small bars. Places that are exempt from this rule include most restaurants and tourism accommodation, while venues that have

Workers in both of these fields, are experiencing reduction in stress and fatigue due to a decrease in the number of early morning incidents. St Vincent 's Health Australia manager, Toby Hall said that “the lockout laws reduced the pressure on medical teams in emergency rooms.”, and "There are far less people coming in who seem to be intoxicated.”. These quotes indicate that the lock-out laws have made emergency health services, deal with fewer cases of intoxication and alcohol-related injuries. It has also had a similar positive impact on the police. Businesses, especially smaller establishments in Kings Cross and the CBD have taken a massive hit as reports have come out saying that prominent and busy stores in these areas have been shutting down quite frequently. Dave Evans, owner of Hugos Lounge bar in Kings Cross said "We said it would destroy business, we said it would destroy staff," and later said. "And here we are.". This quote illustrates how the ‘lock-out’ and alcohol laws have negatively impacted local businesses as it puts many staff out of jobs and forced restaurants and bars to close down. The laws also negatively impact Sydney’s economy because the government is losing precious revenue from these businesses. These

On one hand, people who are involved in the area of police or hospital assistance benefit from less stress during the early hours of the morning. On the other hand the vocal part of the public claim that these laws are shutting down small businesses in the Sydney CBD Entertainment Precinct. There are many flaws in the ‘lock-out’ laws, these problems were not eliminated properly before the bill was passed, in addition to pushing the violence into outlying areas. If these issues are fixed, the law may gain greater acceptance by the majority of the