More than 100 problem drinkers a week are being put on a register that bans them from buying booze in WA in the latest indication police are grappling with an out-of-control alcohol abuse crisis.
The Banned Drinkers Register came into effect on December 14 and gives police the powers to place people who have committed alcohol-related offences on the register.
The latest BDR replaced a previous trial which failed after less than 200 people in the Kimberley, Goldfields and Pilbara were placed on it over four years.
It failed because police had no powers to place people who committed alcohol-related offences on the BDR and bottle shops did not have to take part.
Despite the surge in people being placed on the register, Liquor Stores Association WA CEO Peter Peck said he had heard from bottle shops that there was a delay between people being placed on the list and the ban actually coming into effect.
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“Some of my members have passed on their concerns that there appears to be a delay from the police placing people on the register and then their names actually being on the machines. If this is the case it is concerning and I will be contacting the Department to see what can be done to rectify this,” he said.
The West Australian understands there are “teething issues” with the Banned Drinker Register which is managed by staff in the Department of Local Government Sport and Cultural Industries.
On top of that, the Department’s BDR manager is now on holidays just as the long-planned system to tackle the scourge of alcohol abuse in regional WA is finding its feet.
Under the new BDR, all bottle shops in the Kimberley, Pilbara, Goldfields, Carnarvon and the Gascoyne Junction regions must now scan each customer’s licence when purchasing takeaway alcohol to ensure they are not on the list.
Online liquor outlets are also required to check that customers who are living in a prescribed banned drinker area are not on the register or risk a fine of up to $10,000.
Alcohol-related offending includes violence, drink-driving and behaviour which results in a family violence restraining order.
Wyndham East Kimberley Liquor Accord president Darren Spackman said the fact that such a large number of people had been placed on the BDR in the first few weeks was “a good thing.”
“I think its great, hopefully it will give those 400 people the help they need, “ Mr Spackman said.
Mr Spackman, who owns Kununurra Liquor Barons, said police had so far placed 56 people in his town on the BDR.
A Department spokesman denied there was any backlog or delays in placing people on the BDR.
“The system between WA Police and the DLGSC is automated and does not require manual intervention,” he said.
“Banned Drinker Orders issued by WA Police are uploaded to the BDR twice a day. Once WA Police have entered the data, the BDR is populated within 30 minutes and refreshed to all terminals twice daily.”
The spokesman said there had been one claim of two banned drinkers not being on the BDR when their ID was entered or scanned at a regional bottleshop.
“The DLGSC has verified that (those) banned drinkers are on the BDR, and that the machine appears to be operating,” he said.