People in Perth may be surprised to learn that current laws allow cafes and restaurants to serve alcoholic drinks to customers who do not purchase a meal.
People in Perth may be surprised to learn that current laws allow cafes and restaurants to serve alcoholic drinks to customers who do not purchase a meal.
This policy was introduced in 1998, yet only about 10 per cent of licensed restaurants have taken advantage of this reform.
The reason, according to the Restaurant and Catering Association of WA’s executive director Terry Bright, is that it’s a “Clayton’s concession”.
“It is too difficult for restaurants to take that particular regulation on board,” Mr Bright said.
“It doesn’t work, it is totally unmanageable.”
The policy stipulates that restaurants must have a designated area for serving alcohol without a meal.
The area has to be clearly marked and can be no more than 20 per cent of the floor space.
Restaurants also complain that, in practice, they are mostly unable to gain permission to sell alcohol in alfresco areas.
The government’s liquor review committee has recommended that current restrictions should be relaxed, with the 20 per cent limit scrapped.
It said this would encourage the consumption of alcohol in a moderating climate and would provide greater flexibility in meeting the needs of tourists and the general public.
The Australian Hotels Association is concerned the proposed change could result in its members losing sales, including from restaurants that become de facto bars.
However, the committee has also recommended that “appropriate conditions” be imposed to stop this happening, and that extended trading permits should be easy to cancel if the conditions are breached.
Mr Bright said the restaurant industry would strongly oppose any “cowboy operators” who tried to step around these conditions.
“We are at least as keen as the AHA to ensure that good genuine restaurants do not try to become de facto bars or taverns,” he said.
“I’ve not spent 12 years of my life fighting this provision to see it stuffed up by the cowboys that we know are out there.”
Tourism WA’s Rick Thomas believes the proposed change would appeal to tourists and locals alike, since they would be able to sit down and have a drink, where and when they wanted.
“That isn’t taking money out of a hotelier because I don’t think that person would have gone looking for a pub at that point in time,” Mr Thomas said.
Verve is one of the small minority of licensed restaurants in Perth to have taken advantage of the current laws.
Proprietor Hooman Baickdeli said he designed the restaurant and cafe so that it would have a clearly delineated area, with a different style of seating, for customers wanting a drink without a meal.
“It’s a clearly visible area and it extends out to our alfresco,” he said.
Mr Baickdeli said law firm Phillips Fox had helped him steer through the regulations, which required approval from both the Department of Racing, Gaming & Liquor and the City of Perth for the alfresco area.
He said the current policy was manageable, though he noted that Verve needed to reapply for its extended trading permit every one or two years.