Report altered to make 3am lockout laws seem more effective in stopping alcohol-related violence, as documents suggest they aren’t

AUTHORITIES changed a draft review of the 3am lockout imposed on city pubs and clubs to make results appear more positive, despite new documents showing little evidence to suggest it is effective in stopping violence.

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THERE is little evidence to show the 3am lockout imposed on city pubs and clubs has been effective at stopping alcohol-fuelled violence, newly released documents show.

However, The Advertiser can reveal that authorities changed a draft review of the lockout to make the results appear more positive.

In October, 2013, the State Government introduced a new code of conduct for late-night venues, including a 3am lockout, and promised to review its impact after a year.

About nine months after implementing the code the Government declared there had been a 20.6 per cent decline in offences against good order in the CBD and a 13.5 per cent drop in violent assaults.

However, new documents released under Freedom of Information laws show a draft review of the code, written in March 2015, found “there is no evidence to indicate that the Late Night Code has resulted in a strong decrease in late night alcohol-related offending behaviour”.

“Although some declines have been observed over the period (of review), they are likely to be attributable to a broader decline in crime trends overall,” it said.

Data presented in the draft report compared offences in the CBD with offences across the metropolitan area, showing a greater decline outside the city.

At a meeting the following month, Government and SA Police representatives resolved to make changes to the wording of the draft report.

An email dated April 29, 2015, shows these included rewording “the general language in the conclusion statements, to give greater emphasis to the fact that there have been declines in incidents and apprehensions, whatever the causes”.

It was also agreed to change the wording “so that the report does not say that the code had little effect”.

“In the same vein (the changes) toned down the argument that the code only affects the CBD,” the email states.

“The new argument is to leave open the possibility that the code has affected metro declines, albeit its influence on metro is likely to be less than on (the) CBD.”

In a separate letter, then Police Commissioner Gary Burns suggested that SA Police could provide “alternative” analysis that did not make comparison with the wider metropolitan area.

On Monday, current Police Commissioner Grant Stevens reaffirmed police support for the lockout and insisted the data used was relevant and accurate.

Mr Stevens said the lockout had led to “a marked improvement in general safety and the behaviour of patrons” in licensed venues in the CBD.

He said he was not “directly involved” in the discussions about changing the wording of the draft review.

Late Night Venue Association of SA president Tim Swaine, who requested the documents, said they confirmed that the “outcome of the review was predetermined to suit the Government’s political ideology”.

“Police data was consciously omitted or manipulated in such a way to avoid the inconvenient truth that there is no evidence to indicate that the Late Night Code has resulted in a strong decrease in late night alcohol-related offending behaviour,” he said.

Opposition police spokesman Stephan Knoll said he would be “very concerned” if the review findings had been “interfered with in any way”.

“It is critical that we make decisions based on facts without any bias to cloud the issue,” he said.

Consumer and Business Services Minister John Rau said the Government accepted “the clear advice of SA Police and SA Health” that the Late Night Code had “helped improve public safety”.

Public order offences have dropped and data provided by SA Health highlighted a significant drop in RAH Emergency Department presentations for alcohol and body injuries,” he said.