COVID Sydney: Venues fined for breaching NSW Health rules

Venues in two of Sydney’s trendiest areas have forked out more than half a million dollars since July in COVID-19 infringement notices — with pubs emerging as the worst offenders. SEE WHICH VENUES HAVE BEEN FINED

• NSW suburbs with lowest COVID testing rates
• Sydney restaurant virus fears, transport alerts

Venues in Sydney’s inner west and inner city have emerged as the worst for breaking COVID-19 rules, with businesses across the two areas clocking up a combined 54 fines since July.

Figures obtained exclusively by The Daily Telegraph found more than 150 penalty notices worth $663,000 were issued over the past four months, with pubs the most frequent offenders.

NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello labelled the venues “selfish” and said they undermined NSW’s fight against the virus.

NSW Minister Customer Service Victor Dominello Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dylan K Coker

In the Hills Shire, Canterbury-Bankstown and Ku-ring-Gai districts, nine venues were in each area.

Rozelle pubs Garry Owen Hotel and The Red Lion Hotel both paid the heftiest fines of $10,000 each, as did the Harbour View Hotel at The Rocks, Bondi Bowling Club, the Croatian Club in Punchbowl, Whisky Tango in Len Waters Estate and the Phoenix Hotel in Woollahra.

The Red Lion, owned by Laundy Hotels, was fined in August after a birthday lunch for pub baron Craig Laundy’s 22-year-old son Charlie well exceeded its capacity limits.

The pub was issued two $5000 fines after investigations found that up to 40 patrons were not adhering to social distancing laws and mingling while drinking.

The Red Lion in Rozelle was fined $10,000.

The Star in Pyrmont was also fined $5000 for similar issues.

A spokesman for the casino said the venue had “implemented a variety of initiatives” since receiving the fine.

“In addition to government directives, we have increased the presence of security team members and social distancing attendants to help guests maintain their distancing, and implemented careful queue management strategies to ensure guest safety upon arrival through peak times,” a spokesman said.

The Star casino in Pyrmont was fined $5000. Picture: Toby Zerna

The most common issues venues have been fined for were lack of physical distancing, exceeding capacity limits, not providing a COVIDSafe plan, hygiene issues and other problems with record keeping.

Mr Dominello said while the majority of businesses were “doing the right thing”, there are some operators who “think they’re above the law”.

“Quite frankly it’s selfish behaviour, which undermines our collective efforts to reduce the spread of the virus,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“It’s also unfair on other hospitality businesses which are doing the right thing.”

MORE NEWS:

Major nomination for Cormann amid cabinet reshuffle

Powerhouse at Parramatta one step closer to being built

Trade sectors where apprenticeships are set to boom

The Harbour View Hotel in The Rocks was fined $10,000.

AHA director of liquor and policing John Green. Picture: John Appleyard

But industry groups have defended the venues, saying small and medium-sized businesses are already under immense pressure and that the laws have continually changed.

“The strict COVID rules under which hotels operate have changed a number of times over recent months,” Australian Hotels Association (AHA) NSW director of liquor and policing John Green said.

“Many venues have undergone costly renovations to ensure compliance with the new rules — only to be left penalised when these laws or new interpretations of the laws change.

“We need certainty, consistency and a clear way forward.”

Mr Green said while he understands the rules around social distancing, many venues involved have had “several inspections by multiple agencies” who found their operations compliant.

“Hotels are operating with significantly fewer patrons, reduced income and less staff. It will take the industry years to recover from the economic losses suffered through the pandemic.”

A birthday lunch at The Red Lion Hotel in Rozelle attracted a $10,000 fine.

VENUE RESPONSES

La Famiglia Ristorante and Pizzeria, Jindabyne

Appealing the fine.

“I’d had three visits from police during the winter season, all were satisfied with business COVIDSafety, no warnings for any issues,” a spokesman said.

“I rectified the two issues outlined and the inspector noted it as I had forwarded him the requested details and wasn’t issued a warning or a fine. “

Ela Mesa, Woy Woy

“The fine we got was unjust as we had a plan for COVID before we even had to have one,” a spokesman said.

“We started a COVID registry from the 22nd of June and had sanitisers on all our tables, and entries plus proper distances between the tables. The only thing we didn’t have was the electronic register which we got the same day they came to check.”

Nighthawk Diner, Alexandria

“We were hit with a 5k fine for not writing down what we were already doing for COVID safety,” a spokesman said.

“I’ve spent everything I’ve got keeping my business running after having a 100% revenue decrease when the restrictions came in. I could have shut it down and survived as a job keeper but I decided to be a proactive member of the community and keep as many people employed and as much money circulating through the economy as possible.”

Oporto, Greenhills

“As part of a national network, Oporto Greenhills implemented a COVID Safe plan in March 2020, which has continuously evolved as government regulations have been updated,” a spokeswoman said.

The Star, Pyrmont

“The Star Sydney has implemented a variety of initiatives to maintain the safety of our guests and team members, and ensure the property always operates in accordance with guidelines from health authorities,” a spokesman said.

“In addition to Government directives, we have increased the presence of security team members and social distancing attendants to help guests maintain their distancing and implemented careful queue management strategies to ensure guest safety upon arrival through peak times.”

Portugal Community Club, Marrickville

“Some of the reasons we received the fine were because of the following: members were not signing in correctly bar staff was also acting as the COVID marshal, poker machines were all turned on with a closed sign on them to allow 1.5 metres. Safety plan was a few weeks outdated and online sign-in process excel spreadsheet was kept off site,” a spokeswoman said.

“What we have done since the fine is as follows: employed someone to just be the COVID marshal, changed the sign-in forms, poker machines have been turned off, safety plan was updated before the fine was issued, excel spreadsheet with the list of manually sign-ins is now kept in-house and entered daily.”

Thredbo Alpine Hotel, Thredbo

Appealing the fine.

L’Americano, Alexandria

“An inspection at L’Americano identified that a small number of manual registrations were not digitised within 24 hours and our COVID-19 Marshal was not visibly identifiable via a badge,” a spokesman said.

“Both minor matters were rectified immediately, and a follow-up review flagged no ongoing concerns.”

Collector Hotel, Parramatta

“We spent more than $80,000 making our hotel compliant with the laws in June, but how can we be expected to stay compliant when the rules constantly change?,” Hotel Parramatta Licensee Jamieson Howell said.

“We’ve had police, Liquor and Gaming and other inspectors come through and say everything was ‘OK’, so to have a different inspector then come in and issue a fine is confusing to say the least.”

Timbah, Glebe

“All concerns that were bought to my attention by the inspectors during the inspection were dealt with within 30 minutes of the inspectors leaving the venue and then followed up the next day,” Manager Callan Smith said.

“Inspectors from Liquor and Gaming NSW visited Timbah again on our next day of trade and deemed Timbah to be well and truly compliant over and above what the law requires.”

Padstow Bowling Club, Padstow

“Our venue was obviously very disappointed at receiving $5000 from Liquor and Gaming. The rules were enforced and we had to take it on the chin,” CEO Jason Proops said.

The Incinerator Cafe, Willoughby

“Me and my staff are doing our very best to comply with the Public Health Order and follow closely with government announcements and rules. I have received the fine from Fair Trading and I requested a review with all the evidence but got rejected,” Incinerator Cafe owner Paggie said.

Three Williams Cafe, Redfern

“Our breach was in relation to an administrative error and incomplete documentation, which we are appealing,” General Manager Zae Greenwood said.

Cat and Fiddle, Balmain

“We were fined for 2 reasons: manual sign in register was not transferred to electronic version within 24 hours,” a spokesman said.

“We do this religiously but the day the same day my manager was rostered off and she was the one doing it – so it was an oversight. We have now abolished the manual register and all using QR code.

Indian Leaf, Redfern

Appealing the fine.

Gorokan Golden Lake Chinese, Gorokan

“We got fines when we fully registered in COVIDSafe but without the safety plan, we did provide all the hand hygiene to customers and staff and we still issue with fines,” Golden Lake Chinese’s Angus Bao said.

“Without any warning or grace period for us to improve, $5000 fines is ridiculous and not fair for all of us.”

Bondeno Cafe, Fairfield

“We were and are doing everything the covid plan and rules tell us to do, but were deemed non-compliant for not correctly “digitising” our customer covid register which we keep in paper format,” Bondeno Café’s Almir Dizdaric said.