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A Review of Queensland's Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990

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A Review of Queensland's Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 Office of Industrial Relations A Review of Queensland’s Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 A report by Mr John Mickel Chair — Trading Hours Review Reference Group December 2016 A Review of Queensland’s Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 1 The Hon Curtis Pitt MP, Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Minister for Sport, 1 William St, BRISBANE QLD 4000 The Hon Grace Grace MP, Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations, Minister for Racing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, 1 William St, BRISBANE QLD 4000 Dear Treasurer and Minister, I am pleased to present the report ‘A Review of Queensland’s Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990’. The report is the culmination of a wide ranging review of Queensland’s trading hours’ arrangements. The Queensland trading hours review 2016 (the Review) has considered submissions from business, unions, workers and the community, economic analysis, an extensive household survey on Queenslander’s attitudes to trading hours, and the views and expert knowledge of an independent reference group comprised of representatives of business, unions and the tourism industry. The report makes 13 recommendations that I consider will improve trading hours’ regulation in Queensland to promote employment and economic growth while balancing the interests of workers, consumers and small and large businesses. The Review found that the current patchwork of trading hours across the State is unnecessarily complex to navigate, causes confusion for retailers and consumers, does not adequately reflect contemporary shopping and leisure preferences and detracts from Queensland’s appeal as a tourist destination. While there is a general appreciation across the community that these issues must be addressed, there is not an overwhelming call for a total deregulation of the trading hours for all retail businesses at this time. Retail industry workers and their Unions and the community at large have raised legitimate concerns about the negative consequences of extended trading hours on quality of life and work and family balance, particularly for working families with school-aged or younger children. Also, the impacts on regional and rural communities, where their local economies, population densities and consumer preferences and work patterns are not the same as those in the south-eastern portion of the State, have been very important to my considerations. These genuine stakeholder and community concerns must be balanced against the economic benefit and competition arguments for reduced regulation made by the Australian Productivity Commission, the Queensland Competition Authority and other bodies. On balance, there is a case for greater liberalisation and standardisation of allowable trading hours across Queensland. Reducing complexity and removing the heavy hand of Government regulation will enable Queensland businesses to determine how best to grow and service customer demand. There is also a case for ensuring stability by placing a moratorium on applications for further changes being made to the State’s trading hours’ arrangements. 2 As Chair of the reference group, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of all members of the reference group to the task of overseeing this review of Queensland’s trading hours’ laws. All members participated in good faith and with open minds. Points of view were shared robustly and respectfully. Not all members of the reference group will agree with all of the recommendations in this report. This is not surprising considering the diversity of interests amongst stakeholders and the variety of views expressed through the submissions, surveys and analysis. However, there was a considerable level of agreement on most of the recommendations. Where disagreement did exist, I have sought to ensure that the report properly reflects the positions of the reference group representatives. I would like to thank Mr Tony Schostakowski and Mr Mark Hopgood and the other members of the Secretariat within the Office of Industrial Relations, Queensland Treasury, who worked diligently to develop the Issues Papers, explore ideas and assist me with preparing the final report. I also acknowledge the support of Dr Simon Blackwood and Mr Tony James from the Office of Industrial Relations during the Review. Yours sincerely, John Mickel Chair Trading Hours Review Reference Group A Review of Queensland’s Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990 3 Contents Executive summary ..........................................................................................................7 List of Recommendations ...............................................................................................10 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................................................................12 1.1 Establishment of the trading hours review ........................................................... 12 1.2 Conduct of the review .......................................................................................... 12 Chapter 2: An Overview of the regulation of trading hours in Queensland .................... 13 2.1 Queensland’s trading hours laws ........................................................................ 13 2.2 Exempt shops ...................................................................................................... 13 2.3 Independent retail shops .................................................................................... 14 2.4 Non-exempt shops ............................................................................................. 14 Chapter 3: Impacts of current framework and less restrictive trading hours .................16 3.1 Significance of the retail industry in Queensland ................................................. 16 3.2 Impacts on business ............................................................................................ 16 3.3 Impacts on employment and employees ............................................................. 19 3.4 Impacts on community and consumers ...............................................................20 Chapter 4: Submissions to the review responding to the terms of reference ................ 22 4.1 Employment and business growth in Queensland. ..............................................22 4.2 The Queensland economy overall or particular regions or sectors of the economy. ...................................................................................................22 4.3 Market share of small and medium-sized businesses. ........................................23 4.4 Workers and their families. .................................................................................24 4.5 The needs of the Queensland public and visitors to the state. ............................25 4.6 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. .........................................26 Chapter 5: Current model and alternative models for regulating trading hours. .......... 28 5.1 Substantial deregulation .....................................................................................28 5.2 A trading hours model decided in legislation by Government ..............................29 5.3 Existing model with changes to allowable hours for trading throughout the State or in defined regions. .........................................................30 5.4 Limiting the order making power of the QIRC ...................................................... 31 5.5 Changes to the criteria for deciding applications for extended trading ................32 5.6 No change from current non-exempt trading hours ............................................33 5.7 Amalgamation of independent retail shop and exempt shop categories .............34 5.8 Defining independent retail shops ......................................................................35 5.9 Defining exempt shops ........................................................................................35 4 Chapter 6: Recommendations ........................................................................................37 6.1 Core trading hours for non-exempt (large) retail shops ........................................37 6.2 Protections for workers ....................................................................................... 41 6.3 Commencement of amendments and review of core hours ................................. 41 6.4 Redefining some non-exempt shops as exempt shops .......................................42 6.5 Include independent retail shop in the exempt shop category ............................43 6.6 Definition of independent retail shops ................................................................43 6.7 The role of the QIRC.............................................................................................44 Appendix 1: Terms of reference .......................................................................................45 Appendix 2: Reference group ........................................................................................ 46 Appendix 3: Media announcements ...............................................................................47 31 August 2016 ..........................................................................................................47 1 September 2016 .....................................................................................................48
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