Lockout law change to delay scanning for an hour after big events a win for pubs

A Brisbane venue’s successful appeal to allow ID scanning of patrons to begin later at night under certain circumstances has led to a rule change.

Long queues form in Caxton Street waiting for ID scanning after a Broncos match at nearby Suncorp Stadium.

A DOOMED attempt by the state’s liquor and gaming watchdog to block a high-profile Brisbane pub’s application for relaxed ID scanning hours during State of Origin, has led to a rule change.

The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation has created a new guideline for temporary changes to ID scanning hours for big events.

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Its contentious decision to reject the Caxton Hotel’s bid to push back scanning on Origin night was overturned by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal earlier this year.

Scanning begins at 10pm, but the Caxton Hotel successfully argued it should not have to scan IDs until 11pm on Origin night to avoid large queues when fans leave Suncorp Stadium for nearby pubs.

Patrons at the Caxton Hotel must be scanned after 10pm but a rule change could see this extended to 11pm when crowds spill out of nearby Suncorp Stadium.

Under the new guidelines, the state’s Liquor and Gaming Commissioner will consider temporarily varying ID scanning laws.

The venue must prove a major event would create an “unavoidable mass migration” to a Safe Night Out precinct at the time scanning begins; and that these numbers would likely join queues, heightening the chance of violence in the area.

The events would also need to be attended by more than 30,000 people, such as an NRL game or a concert.

An Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation spokeswoman confirmed the changes were a result of the QCAT decision and reflected its findings.

It is the second major change after Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath announced earlier this month that scanning staff no longer needed to be licensed crowd controllers provided they were supervised by a licenced supervisor on duty at the same time.

Caxton Street Development Association spokesman Sarosh Mehta yesterday thanked State Government ministers Grace Grace and Kate Jones for helping bring about the ID scanning changes.

But he said he believed the timing should be permanently shifted from 10pm to 11pm.

There is speculation the Government could move to do just that after it receives the final report into the success of its lockout laws, due in April next year.