Hosted at Club Corowa on Friday, August 3, it is important licensed premises show a consistent and united approach to maintaining safety.
The purpose of the Liquor Accord is to maintain a healthy and safe environment in all of our licensed premises so that people can attend and not be worried about being abused and/or assaulted by unruly patrons.
With Tanya and Dan House from The Royal Hotel, Corowa, attending for the first time, it was a good opportunity to meet and greet them and provide advice on how different establishments deal with certain behaviours.
Corowa Sergeant Stephen Marshall and Senior Constable Brad Duncan spoke at length regarding a number of incidents that have occurred in what is normally a quiet time in our pubs. This led to a discussion about common persons who play up in the licenced premises. It was during this discussion that some of our licensed premises shared common problems and that the ‘banned from one, banned from all’ licensed premises showed some merit.
Sergeant Marshall played CCTV that captured two recent incidents in separate locations, pointing out behaviour that was not desirable in any establishment and discussed sanctions police expected would be appropriate from the licenced premises.
CEO of Club Corowa, Peter Norris, spoke on one of the incidents, informing the group that numerous persons received lifetime bans from Club Corowa for a disgusting brawl in May 2024 where adult men were seen assaulting local women. It was pointed out to attendees by Mr Norris and Police that not only were they banned for life, but CCTV and statements had been provided to police resulting in three persons charged with a serious public order offence.
During the discussion, Bangerang Liquor Accord agreed to seven key conducts that would not be tolerated. The list will be put on the walls of all Bangerang Licenced Premises so that no patrons are confused.
The key conducts are based on the decision-making matrix that Club Corowa applies to any behaviour requiring adjudication by the board and was introduced to the accord by Mr Norris. All members of the accord saw serious merit in the list and the importance of conveying this message to patrons.
“Contravening any one of these behaviours may result in a short-term or long-term ban from one premises or all premises,” Sergeant Marshall said.
“Contravening multiple may end in exclusion from all licensed premises in the accord.”
The Bangerang Liquor Accord is made up predominantly of licensed premises in the Federation Council area with strong representation from Corowa, Balldale and Howlong.