SA government plans Work Protection Orders for retail workers as crime stats keep rising
Retail crime statistics continue to rise but the state government and industry leaders say the move will put new pressure on criminals. See how it would work.
SA News
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Violent and intimidatory offenders in the state’s retail precincts could face bans with business owners to be empowered to prohibit anti-social behaviour under court orders.
A suite of new measures proposed by the state government will strengthen protections for retail workers in the latest action to stamp out violent behaviour.
The scheme would operate in a similar manner to intervention orders via applications to the Magistrates Court to ban individuals identified as being violent in the workplace.
The orders would ban them from entering a workplace for a year.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the proposed new laws would empower businesses to help protect their “most vital asset – their staff”.
“We’ve heard loud and clear from both business and union groups that the issue of harassment, abuse and violence against staff remains a serious issue in South Australia,” he said.
“Giving the Magistrates Court the power to impose orders for up to a year is a way of giving both business and staff more certainly and security in the workplace.”
National Retail Association policy director David Stout said the organisation considered the Work Protection Orders proposal a “vital step” to safeguard workers.
“These Work Protection Orders will give businesses and police more power to act on aggressive individuals quickly and effectively.
“Once a recidivist has been identified, police will be empowered to prohibit these individuals from entering retail precincts where they have caused or threatened harm to retail workers.
“In conjunction with SAPOL initiative – Operation Measure – we have seen a revolutionary step in addressing retail theft by addressing repeat high value offending.”
The August rolling year figures reveal the number of shop thefts continued to increase with 17,956 offences reported during the period, compared with 16,802 in the previous period.
While the overall figure increased, the increase has slowed considerably over the past six reporting periods as police continue to successfully target recidivist offenders.
Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association SA secretary Josh Peak said the new measures would be “fundamental in ensuring SA retail workers can go to work feeling safe”.
“Retail workers are bearing the brunt of customers who are repeatedly doing the wrong thing,” he said.
“It doesn’t make sense that retailers and their staff can’t ban people who make their premises unsafe.”
The scheme is modelled on laws successfully operation in the ACT, and offenders who breach an order can face up to five years in jail.
It would cover acts of physical violence, sexual violence, threatening behaviour, stalking, harassment and damaging property.
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Originally published as SA government plans Work Protection Orders for retail workers as crime stats keep rising
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