Derby Liquor Accord beefs up liquor restrictions for six month trial

The Derby Liquor Accord has announced it will impose new liquor restrictions to come into effect this Friday March 31.

The restrictions will see reduced trading hours and harsher purchase limits imposed on venues in Derby, with the changes set to stay in place for the next six months.

Customers will be limited to purchasing one of the following; a carton with an alcohol content of 5 per cent or less, one 10-pack of full-strength alcohol, three 750ml bottles of wine or a single one-litre bottle of spirits.

Trading hours will also be limited to between 12pm to 6pm from Monday to Saturday with no takeaway alcohol purchases allowed on Sundays.

Glass packaging of alcohol is also banned unless there is no alternative.

Shire of Derby-West Kimberley President Geoff Haerewa, who is currently in Canberra on other business, said he could not support the restrictions until he had seen the finer details of the proposal.

“Considering the impact of alcohol-related crime in the community the Accord has decided to implement the following new restrictions from Friday, 31 March 2023 to be reviewed again in six months,” a Shire statement said.

It comes after Milliya Rumurra chief executive Andrew Amor said in an Advertiser article on March 30 about Broome’s Sobering Up Centre that alcohol bans were “short-term solutions to systemic, long-term problems”.

“The only way to address the problem properly is to do other things, aside from or complementary to the bans,” he said at the time.

“The issue is, if you want to drink or take drugs, you will do it despite the bans and that’s why we need to look at this differently.”

In January the Derby Liquor Accord decided to ban takeaway alcohol sales in town during the aftermath of the Kimberley floods which saw hundreds of people evacuated to Derby and an increase in alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.

After the six-month trial period, an assessment will be made on whether to impose the restrictions permanently.