The state government’s announcement on May 1 that it would introduce a 2am lockout for many Melbourne venues in order to address the issue of alcohol-related violence has met with widespread anger.

Thousands of people have signed up to Facebook groups and mailing lists in preparation for a planned rally against the ban this Friday May 30. Protest group Melbourne Locked Out say the plan is unfair; and venue owners say they’re being unfairly penalized for the problems of a few.

Conversely, Victoria Police and the state government are adamant the three month trial will go ahead as planned. Something has to be done, they say, to curb drunkenness and violence at night in the CBD.

There is no doubt that excessive alcohol consumption is strongly implicated in violence and crime. A recent study by the Injury Control Council of Western Australia found a strong correlation between drinking, night-time assaults and hospital emergency admissions; while in the UK, where lockouts are being trialed, hospitals in the Oxford area found 70 per cent of accident and emergency admissions were alcohol related.

According to Victoria Police, late night assaults in the CBD have risen 17.5 per cent over the 2006/7 financial year. But is a lockout the answer?

Lockouts are already in place in Ballarat, Bendigo and Warrnambool, as well as in Queensland, and across the Tasman in cities like Dunedin. But the results are unclear.

Queensland Police Minister Judy Spence says violent assaults and public drunkenness have decreased wherever lockouts are in place. In Newcastle, NSW police claim assaults have halved, burglaries and car thefts are down 40 per cent, and malicious damage has also dropped.

Here in Victoria, Ballarat experienced an immediate drop in street crime, and an even greater drop in crimes on licensed premises, when the lockout began. In Warrnambool over the Christmas period public damage was halved, and damage to retail premises fell by one third, according to local police. In Bendigo, police claim assaults have been reduced by 25 per cent since a lockout was introduced in September 2007.

Case closed? Not quite.

In Ballarat and Warrnambool, authorities increased the police presence on the streets and improved security at taxi queues in addition to a venue lockout being introduced. The City of Greater Bendigo implemented safer access to taxis and improved its late-night public transport.

In Melbourne there are no plans to increase police patrols – a key demand of many venue owners - or provide more comprehensive late night public transport.

Politically, the lockout is a winner for the state government. It’s acted to fix a problem at virtually no cost to the public purse. Instead, as areas where lockouts are operating have discovered, it’s the venues that carry the financial costs.

Most venue owners think that increased foot patrols targeting problem areas would be a better solution. Melbourne Locked Out agrees, and in addition cites evidence suggesting that the majority of violent incidents can be traced to a handful of problematic venues, as in the case of Wollongong, where 67 per cent of violent incidents are attributable to just six pubs.

Melbourne’s lockout will punish everyone, with smaller venues likely to be the hardest hit. With clubs and bars unable to replace patrons as they leave, diminishing crowd numbers may mean that staying open later than 2am becomes economically unfeasible. There may be job losses. Some bars may even be forced to close.

Outside on the streets, meanwhile, the situation may well get worse. Large crowds will congregate outside venues between 1 – 2am, trying to beat the lockout. Those still queuing at 2am will be left stranded.

It’s a situation that has Julie from Girlbar deeply concerned.

“What happens at 2am if you’ve still got a crowd waiting on the doorstep?” she asks.

“They’re not going to go home; they’re going to stay there and cause trouble. They’re going to go and sit in their cars - they’ll have more alcohol in their cars - stereos blaring.”

In a submission to the 2004 Drug & Crime Prevention Committee, drug and alcohol counselling service Turning Point identified crowds congregating outside venues trying to get in; large crowds on the streets as many venues closed simultaneously; and a lack of regular, reliable and affordable public transport (for getting home and for travelling from club to club) as some of the key flashpoints for nighttime street violence.

Brett from the Laird is also concerned about the lockout.

“In the past, those turned away would just go somewhere else,” he says. “What will they be like when they can’t get into to any venue at all?”

Melbourne’s taxis are too few and too expensive, and as recent events have shown, many taxi drivers are justifiably nervous about picking up people who appear the worse for wear.

Drinkers may head for areas where the lockout doesn’t apply, such as the Glenferrie Road strip, or Crown Casino. But violence around the casino is already a problem, with 1200 assaults in the area since 2002.

Most bar owners and managers agree that the lockout won’t work, and that it unfairly penalizes everyone when the problem is caused by relatively few people in a few specific areas.

Julie says that if there has to be a curfew, then it should apply across the city and across the board.

“If you’re going to do a lockout you should do a curfew right across the board, because [otherwise] these people will find somewhere to go. Shut down your MacDonalds, your cafes, your pizza shops, Crown and stuff like that, too,” she says. “That would be fair.”

www.melbournelockedout.com

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