Government moves on retail trading hours
The Queensland Government has announced their response to the recommendations of their retail trading hours review, committing to a significant overhaul of current regulations.
Describing the current regulations as ‘draconian’, the Premier has committed to consolidate the 30 different trading zones across Queensland and the 99 different trading hour provisions.
Key changes to be made include:
- Standardisation of Sunday and Public Holiday trading across Queensland, with an option for non-Sunday trading towns to opt-in through a QIRC application
- Easter Sunday to be established as an open trading day across Queensland for all areas with Sunday trading
- Butcher shops, special exhibitions and trade shows to be exempt from trading restrictions
- Provision for special trading hours’ applications for international events
- Businesses selling motor vehicles or caravans will be treated the same as all other non-exempt shops in Queensland, allowing them to trade on Sundays
- Hardware stores will be able to open on Sundays from 6am
The Government has announced that in order to facilitate these reforms, a five-year moratorium will be in place on further applications to amend the allowable trading hours for non-exempt shops. A commitment has been made to review this situation prior to the end of the moratorium period.
Further information on the Government’s announcement can be found here.