State Government confirms ‘hard rollout’ of Kimberley banned drinkers register, launch of new app

The State Government’s banned drinkers register trial will continue long-term in the Kimberley and a new app will be rolled out to improve practicality for venues in the North West. A soft rollout of the register, which implements ID scanners at point-of-sale for takeaway alcohol purchases to crack down on problem drinkers, started in the Kimberley in May. That BDR program has now been progressed to a hard rollout for two years and Scantek has also been called on to build an app which is expected to be available to licensees in the Kimberley and Pilbara by October. The app is aimed at improving flexibility for licensees working in areas where a fixed scanner may not be practical, such as drive through bottle shops. Speaking in Broome today, Racing and Gaming Minister Reece Whitby said more than 300,000 scans had been resisted since the Kimberley trial began, with 18 instances of banned drinkers being caught out. “People, once they know what is for and that it is about harm minimisation and reducing the amount of antisocial behaviour are happy to do it,” he said. “I hope to see this reflected in the amount of emergency admissions to hospitals, the amount of disturbance police have to attend — it will be interesting to measure that. Mr Whitby said the high proportion of the 34 residents on the register having self-referred proved there was community support for the rollout. “It makes sense to see people who emerge from court with a serious offence that is alcohol related, there is no reason why a magistrate could not add a condition as part of the punishment that someone goes on the list,” he added when questioned on further measures to put more people on the register. Shire of Broome president Harold Tracey said the long-term benefits of the register made it worthwhile getting used to the system. “This is something the community wants and it is something the industry wants, but it is like anything new... people are a bit scared to start off with but it is just being scared of the unknown,” he said. “I don’t think there is any question it is a fantastic idea.” Mr Tracey said the register would improve accountability of retailers and consumers.