Trading Hours Review Issues Paper
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Queensland Trading Hours Review 2016 Issues Paper Foreword On 31 August 2016 the Palaszczuk Government established an independent review of Queensland’s retail trading hours’ arrangements. The review is in response to concerns by business and the community that Queensland’s trading hours arrangements are difficult to navigate and may act as a disincentive to smaller business expansion, employment and growth. The Terms of Reference for the Trading Hours Review are overleaf. The Government has appointed a Trading Hours Review Reference Group, comprising of key business groups, the Queensland Tourism Industry Council and Unions to consider and report to the Government on Queensland’s current trading hours’ regulatory framework and to make recommendations that will improve trading hours regulation to promote employment and economic growth while continuing to balance the interests of consumers, workers and small and large businesses. The membership of the Reference Group is set out in the terms of reference. This issues paper seeks business and community opinion on shop trading hours’ regulation. While arguments for or against the regulation of trading hours are often seen as a battle between the interests of the big chain stores and the small independents, the concerns being raised by business owners and the wider community are broader and more complex. These issues include whether current trading hours adequately reflect Queenslander’s shopping and leisure preferences and how does this balance with the needs of retail workers; has the current framework led to unintended consequences for employment and small business growth; and are trading hours’ arrangements detracting from Queensland’s appeal as a tourist destination. In the chapters that follow, the issues paper canvasses known anomalies in the current trading hours’ regime and provides prompting questions to assist with the discussion on the current arrangements and possible alternative models. I encourage you to consider the information contained in this issues paper and to make a submission to the Trading Hours Review. Your submission is not limited to only those matters raised in the issues paper or the prompting questions. The Reference Group welcomes comments from people who want to share their experiences or view on any topic within the scope of the review. All submissions will be published unless provided in confidence. Material provided in confidence should be clearly marked ‘IN CONFIDENCE’. For submissions received from individuals, all personal details (for example, home and email address, signatures, phone, mobile and fax numbers) will be removed before it is published on the website for privacy reasons. Submissions should be received as a Microsoft Word (.docx) files. PDF files are acceptable if produced from a Word document or similar text based software. Queensland Trading Hours Review 2016: Issues Paper Page 2 of 77 The Minister for Industrial Relations has asked the Reference Group to provide a report to Government in December 2016. To meet this timetable, the Reference Group is seeking written submissions by 14 November 2016. Your submission can be emailed to [email protected] or by mail to The Chair Queensland Trading Hours Review, Office of Industrial Relations, GPO Box 69 Brisbane QLD 4001. Yours sincerely John Mickel Chair Trading Hours Review Reference Group Queensland Trading Hours Review 2016: Issues Paper Page 3 of 77 Terms of Reference The Government approved terms of reference for the review as follows: The Reference Group is to examine and report on the current framework for the regulation of trading hours in Queensland and provide advice and recommendations on any alternative models that could be adopted, taking into account the following considerations: The impact of the current framework, and any alternative models, on employment and business growth in Queensland. The impact of the current framework, and any alternative models, on the Queensland economy overall or particular regions or sectors of the economy. The impact of the current framework, and any alternative models, on the market share of small and medium-sized businesses. The impact of the current framework and any alternative models, on workers and their families. The impact of the current framework, and any alternative models, in meeting the needs of the Queensland public and visitors to the state. The impact of the current framework, and any alternative models, in providing certainty and consistency in retail shop trading hours arrangements between and within regions of Queensland, including in relation to public holidays and trading hours on those public holidays. Matters concerning the structure and level of penalty rates, or any consideration of reduction in the number of public holidays, are not within the scope of the review. Membership for the Reference Group shall comprise of one representative nominated by each of the listed organisations: National Retail Association (NRA) Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) Master Grocers Association (MGA) Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) United Voice (UV) Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) Queensland Trading Hours Review 2016: Issues Paper Page 4 of 77 Contents Chapter 1: An overview of the regulation of trading hours in Queensland .............................................. 6 1.1 Queensland’s Trading Hours Laws ............................................................................................ 6 1.2 Exempt Shops .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.3 Independent Retail Shops ........................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Non-Exempt Shops ...................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2: Consideration of the impacts of trading hours’ regulation .................................................... 12 2.1 Impact on the needs of the Queensland public............................................................................ 12 2.2 Impact on workers and their families .......................................................................................... 15 2.3 Impact on the economy, employment and business growth ....................................................... 17 2.4 Impact on the market share of small and medium-sized businesses ........................................... 18 2.5 Impact on particular regions or sectors of the economy ............................................................. 19 2.6 Impact on visitors to the state .................................................................................................. 20 2.7 Impact in providing certainty and consistency in retail shop trading arrangements between and within regions of Queensland, including in relation to public holidays and trading hours on those public holidays ......................................................................................... 21 Chapter 3: Current model and alternative models for regulating non-exempt shops (large retailers) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 23 3.1 A deregulated model ................................................................................................................. 24 3.2 A model where trading hours are decided in legislation by Government ............................ 25 3.3 Retention of the existing model with changes in legislation to the basic allowable hours for trading throughout the State or in defined regions ...................................................................... 26 3.4 Limiting the order making power of the QIRC ........................................................................ 27 3.5 Changes to the criteria for deciding applications for extended trading ............................... 29 3.6 No change to the current arrangements relating to trading hours for non-exempt shops . 30 3.7 Amalgamation of Independent Retail Shop and Exempt Shop Categories ........................... 31 3.8 Defining Independent Retail Shops ......................................................................................... 32 3.9 Defining Exempt Shops ............................................................................................................. 33 List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................................................... 35 Appendix 1: Summary of major changes to trading hours in Australia ...................................... 36 Appendix 2: Current trading hour’s orders decided by the QIRC................................................ 43 Appendix 3: Exempt shops in each jurisdiction ............................................................................ 54 Appendix 4: Independent retail shops in each jurisdiction ......................................................... 59 Appendix 5: Non-exempt shops in each jurisdiction .................................................................... 62 Appendix 6: History of decisions by the QIRC............................................................................... 65 Appendix