Does Canberra need 1am lockouts?

CanberraBornNBred said :

I was a DJ for 6 years around many popular Canberra city and surrounding pubs and clubs.

Whilst I agree that irresponsible service of alcohol is a major contributor to alcohol-fueled violence, I have no doubt that persistent pub anthems played in certain venues is also a significant factor. I have seen pubs and clubs go from fun, friendly, and busy venues to busy and violent venues in a matter of weeks by simply changing DJs (and consequently, the music). This was observed in clubs that had no change in bouncers, management or alcohol service, just a new DJ. Strangely enough, I saw the issue reversed within a matter of weeks after the old DJ was reinstated!

I wish someone would do some research in the correlation between alcohol-fueled violence and Australian pub music in busy venues. I have no doubt that the combination of individuals fueled by alcohol and persistent pub anthems creates a rowdy environment conducive to competitive boisterous behavior, unprovoked bumping and pushing and accidental spilled drinks that ultimately lead to immature violent behavior.

A good DJ is a mob psychologist. Their job is to keep the girls in the clubs (so the guys stay), with the odd average dance song to ‘recycle’ the dancefloor in order to maximize spending on drinks at the bar (responsibly, of course).

That’s a really fascinating observation. Research has been done into how different types of music affect driving behaviour, I’d also like to see some into this issue. Really interesting, thanks for sharing that.

CanberraBornNBred said :

I was a DJ for 6 years around many popular Canberra city and surrounding pubs and clubs.

Whilst I agree that irresponsible service of alcohol is a major contributor to alcohol-fueled violence, I have no doubt that persistent pub anthems played in certain venues is also a significant factor. I have seen pubs and clubs go from fun, friendly, and busy venues to busy and violent venues in a matter of weeks by simply changing DJs (and consequently, the music). This was observed in clubs that had no change in bouncers, management or alcohol service, just a new DJ. Strangely enough, I saw the issue reversed within a matter of weeks after the old DJ was reinstated!

I wish someone would do some research in the correlation between alcohol-fueled violence and Australian pub music in busy venues. I have no doubt that the combination of individuals fueled by alcohol and persistent pub anthems creates a rowdy environment conducive to competitive boisterous behavior, unprovoked bumping and pushing and accidental spilled drinks that ultimately lead to immature violent behavior.

A good DJ is a mob psychologist. Their job is to keep the girls in the clubs (so the guys stay), with the odd average dance song to ‘recycle’ the dancefloor in order to maximize spending on drinks at the bar (responsibly, of course).

Reckon you could package that up into a PhD.

I was a DJ for 6 years around many popular Canberra city and surrounding pubs and clubs.

Whilst I agree that irresponsible service of alcohol is a major contributor to alcohol-fueled violence, I have no doubt that persistent pub anthems played in certain venues is also a significant factor. I have seen pubs and clubs go from fun, friendly, and busy venues to busy and violent venues in a matter of weeks by simply changing DJs (and consequently, the music). This was observed in clubs that had no change in bouncers, management or alcohol service, just a new DJ. Strangely enough, I saw the issue reversed within a matter of weeks after the old DJ was reinstated!

I wish someone would do some research in the correlation between alcohol-fueled violence and Australian pub music in busy venues. I have no doubt that the combination of individuals fueled by alcohol and persistent pub anthems creates a rowdy environment conducive to competitive boisterous behavior, unprovoked bumping and pushing and accidental spilled drinks that ultimately lead to immature violent behavior.

A good DJ is a mob psychologist. Their job is to keep the girls in the clubs (so the guys stay), with the odd average dance song to ‘recycle’ the dancefloor in order to maximize spending on drinks at the bar (responsibly, of course).

“Responsible service of alcohol” can have differing interpretations too. When I was clubbing I went up to the bar of a nightclub no less than four times in less than an hour to order rounds of tequila shots. It was obvious I was buying them for the same group of people every time. On my fifth visit to the bar, I was told to “get someone else to come up next time”, before I was again handed a tray of shots. Pretty responsible!

gooterz said :

Did anyone actually ask for this? or is this just something popped into our ministers heads?
Public office isn’t your personal sim city to screw around with.

The ACT’s liquor laws were reformed in 2010in response to concerns about alcohol related violence.

In 2013, the Justice and Community Safety Directorate engaged ACIL Allen Consulting to undertake an independent review of the 2010 reforms

This issues paper is the outcome of that review. The ACT government now needs to respond to the review, that’s why they are seeking feedback on the independent issues paper.

This reminds me – have Katie’s pissoirs been operating lately? You know, the ones that had comprehensive data collected on how many wee-wees the blokes were doing, based on a supposed post-night-on-the-grog volume of a few mls, which amplified the “patronage” statistics by about 10x?

fabforty said :

I don’t think we need lockouts. I think the bars and nightclubs just need to adhere to the “Responsible Service of Alcohol” Policy. Isn’t that why people working in hospitality undergo mandatory training ?

If an individual or group are well on their way to being totally hammered – stop service. Simple.

These idiots getting around Civic, smashed out of their brains and causing problems, must be getting served somewhere.

I used to work the pubs/clubs on southside. In clubs we wanted an atmosphere in which people were quiet, happy and well behaved, so basically stuck to RSA policy to make that happen. In Civic, however, it is about loud boozy dancing. Nightclubs want your $$$$$ so RSA takes a back seat to the staff who can hear orders over loud music, pump out drinks quickly and get that cash in the till. Screw RSA – get the cash. Bonus points if said bar staff have breasts – for the tip jar of course. And that is why Civic is a cesspool from Thursday night through to Sunday morning.

Did anyone actually ask for this? or is this just something popped into our ministers heads?
Public office isn’t your personal sim city to screw around with.

I don’t think we need lockouts. I think the bars and nightclubs just need to adhere to the “Responsible Service of Alcohol” Policy. Isn’t that why people working in hospitality undergo mandatory training ?

If an individual or group are well on their way to being totally hammered – stop service. Simple.

These idiots getting around Civic, smashed out of their brains and causing problems, must be getting served somewhere.

Remember back in the 90s when Paul Osborne and his loonies introduced laws that had all the nightclubs closing at the same time and the taxis got overwhelmed with too many people. Something similar could occur.

I think a pubwatch plan would work better. Ban the individuals who cause trouble from coming into Civic on Friday or Saturday nights.