Kimberley crime: Hundreds expected to be added to banned drinkers register under proposed laws

Hundreds of people across the Kimberley are expected to be blacklisted from buying alcohol under new proposed changes to the banned drinkers register. Kimberley leaders have welcomed the State Government announcement that they will introduce legislation to allow police and the courts to put people who have committed alcohol-related offences on the banned drinkers register. But they want more detail on how it will work. Up until now the banned drinkers register trial in the Kimberley, Pilbara and the Goldfields has been a “toothless tiger,” according to the Shire of Broome president Harold Tracey. After two years the BDR trial has only 85 people across the Kimberley banned from buying alcohol. In the Pilbara there are 60 people on the list while the Goldfields has just 29 people on the BDR in a population of 57,000. Under proposed new legislation the BDR will become mandatory for all licensees. Police and courts will be able to register people for alcohol-related offending, including alcohol-related violence and drink-driving, not just in or near licensed premises. Health workers and specialist frontline staff would also be able to refer individuals. Online liquor retailers will be required to check that customers aren’t on the BDR. It is not clear if police will be able to put people on the BDR who have been arrested or charged with an alcohol-related offence or only if a person has been convicted. The BDR will also be brought into Carnarvon, in the Gascoyne region, which has been struggling with alcohol-related crime. David Menzel, the chair of the Kimberley Regional Group, an alliance of the four northern shires, said they were delighted that their lobbying for a tougher BDR had been listened to. “The intent of the legislative changes appears to address our major concerns but as always we need to see the details.” Mr Menzel — who is also Shire of Wyndham East Kimberley president — said. “I believe this will provide a bit of breathing space for health professionals, police and other frontline workers. We really hope this will provide a pathway for further support services for people,” he said. “We know we suffer from high levels of alcohol-related crime, particularly domestic violence so anything that will address that will be welcome,” he said. In 2021, Kununurra Hospital recorded 195 alcohol-related admissions over a three-month period, that was two patients a day. In the December quarter of 2021, the Kimberley also had just under five family assaults a day, which was nearly 20 times higher than the rate per 100,000 people reported in the Perth region for the same period. Mr Tracey said a tougher BDR would compliment the other alcohol-harm reduction strategies already in the region. These include limits on takeaway alcohol sales and how much liquor can be transported in vehicles to prevent sly-grogging. “The last peg was getting the BDR a lot more robust,” he said. Wyndham Kununurra Alcohol Liquor Accord member and SWEK deputy president Tony Chafer said new laws could not be introduced fast enough. “I think it is well and truly overdue. I hope there is no delay in getting the legislation through and the drafting process is a quick one,” he said. He said he hoped that police would be given broad and immediate powers to put people on the BDR. “If police go to a place where there is really bad antisocial behaviour occurring due to alcohol then the people involved there need to have immediate consequences,” he said. “I think then we will start to see a change in people’s behaviour, they will be careful not to behave that way because they will know there will be an immediate consequence.” Fellow Accord member and Gulliver’s Tavern owner Darren Spackman said cracking down on the online sale of alcohol was very welcome. “If we bar people they will just go and order it online from Darwin or Perth. They will order it at lunch time and will have it by the next day,” he said.