Banning Orders Information Sheet - Queensland Police Service ...

Banning persons from
licensed premises
Produced by the Drug
and Alcohol
Coordination Unit
For further information contact:
Drug and Alcohol Coordination Unit
Police Headquarters
200 Roma Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000
This fact sheet has been prepared to give licensees, approved managers and their staff
information on the legislation changes rolled out in 2010 which provide police, and the courts,
with the power to ban offenders from specified licensed premises.
These legislative changes were a part of a range of initiatives the Queensland Government
introduced in response to recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into alcohol‐related
violence, and are aimed at reducing the incidence and impacts, both social and economic, of
alcohol‐related violence in Queensland. These powers strengthen the ability of the courts and
police officers to enforce expected standards to community behaviour, recognising that
everyone deserves to be able to enjoy themselves responsibly and feel safe in their community.
T: 07 3364 4601
F: 07 3364 6931
E: DACU@police.qld.gov.au
www.police.qld.gov.au
Last updated 29 October 2012
Bail conditions
Bail is the release from custody of a person charged with an offence, on that person’s signed
undertaking that they will appear in court to answer the charge. If appropriate, the offender
can also be required to make additional promises, known as bail conditions. The law in
Queensland relating to bail is found in the Bail Act 1980.
The Bail Act gives police, and the courts, the ability (if appropriate) to prohibit a person from
entering a stated licensed premises and areas around licensed premises as a special condition
of their bail. If the person breaches or breaks a condition of their bail they commit an offence
and can be placed before the court for a breach of bail.
For police, or the court, to consider imposing these special bail conditions the alleged offence
must have involved:
• the actual use of unlawful violence;
• the threatened use of unlawful violence; or
• the attempted use of unlawful violence;
to another person or property in licensed premises or in a public place in the vicinity of licensed
premises.
A breach of a ban made through bail conditions may have serious consequences for the
offender, including having their bail revoked. Penalties also include a fine of up to $4,400 or up
to two year’s imprisonment.
Offences involving violence
For relevant bail conditions, and court issued banning orders, to be open for consideration by
police, the alleged offence must be one involving the use, or threatened or attempted use, of
violence to another person or property in licensed premises or a public place in the vicinity of
licensed premises.
Such offences could involve a whole range of actions. For example, if the offence involved the
offender:
• threatening to assault you, your staff or any of your patrons;
• hitting or shoving one of your crowd controllers as they were being removed from, or
refused entry to, your premises;
• punching or kicking a hole in a wall, or causing any other damage to your premises, as they
were leaving;
• getting into a fight with someone waiting in line to enter your premises; or
• kicking rubbish bins, cars or road signs on the road outside your premises.
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Court issued banning orders
The Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 provides that a
banning order can be imposed by the court on an offender’s
conviction. A court issued banning order can prohibit an
offender from entering or remaining in stated licensed
premises, during stated hours and/or at stated events, and
can be for a term of up to 12 months.
In order for the court to make a banning order:
• the offender must be convicted of an offence that
involved the use, or threatened or attempted use, of
violence to a person or property; and
• the offence must have been committed in licensed
premises or in a public place in the vicinity of licensed
premises.
The court must also be satisfied that, unless the order is
made, the offender would pose an unacceptable risk to the
good order of, or the safety and wellbeing of persons
attending, licensed premises and areas in the vicinity of
licensed premises.
Penalties for breaching a court issued banning order include
a fine of up to $4,400 or up to one year’s imprisonment.
• Don’t ignore bad behaviour. As licensees you have an
obligation to maintain a safe environment for your
patrons and staff at your premises. You have the right
to remove or refuse entry to people exhibiting
disorderly or other inappropriate behaviour.
• Let police know of breaches. It is an offence for
someone to breach their bail conditions or a court
issued banning order, but police can not respond to
these breaches unless they are aware of them. Contact
police immediately you become aware of a breach.
More information
For more information on banning powers, and other
matters relating to your venue, visit the Office of Liquor and
Gaming Regulation website at www.olgr.qld.gov.au.
How will I know if someone is banned?
Both the Bail Act and Penalties and Sentences Act provide
for police to give information on the relevant bail condition
or banning order to licensees, permittees or approved
managers stated in the bail condition or court issued
banning order.
The information you receive from police will include the
name of the offender and details relevant to the offender’s
bail conditions or court issued banning order. Police are not
authorised to provide you with a photo of the offender.
What can licensed premises do to help
police?
Relevant bail conditions and court issued banning orders
ensure that patrons who have endangered public safety
through violence can be held to account and constrained
from doing the same thing again.
• Call police! Police can only act on incidents that have
been reported to police. Moreover, police would much
rather be called to an incident before it becomes a
serious problem.
• Ask police to consider banning the offender. It is at
the police officers discretion as to whether an offender
is charged with an offence, what bail conditions are
appropriate and if a court issued banning order will be
applied for. However, if your venue has a serious issue
with an offender, and the safety of yourself, your staff
and your patrons is of concern, raise this immediately
with the police officer(s) attending the incident.
Last updated 29 October 2012
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