People convicted of violent offences in Perth entertainment precincts face being banned from entering those areas for up to five years under new legislation to be introduced next month.
The state government says much of Northbridge, Fremantle, Scarborough, Hillarys, Mandurah, and a large swathe of the Perth CBD including Elizabeth Quay will be included on advice from WA police.
Those exclusion areas will be labelled Protected Entertainment Precincts, or PEPs — an abbreviation designed to honour nightclub manager Giuseppe "Pep" Raco, a nightclub manager who was killed in an unprovoked one-punch attack in Northbridge in 2020.
A 26-year-old man was sentenced over the attack last year to seven years and six months' jail for what a judge described as a "terrible example of alcohol-fuelled violence".
The government thanked Mr Raco's widow, Enza Raco, for campaigning for the new laws.
Pep's death 'wont be in vain'
"This is a response to a tragic situation that happened to Enza and her family, and we want to do our best to ensure that doesn't happen to other families in the future," Premier Mark McGowan said.
Speaking at a press conference announcing the proposed laws, Ms Raco said she hoped they would prevent attacks like the one that claimed her husband's life.
"What a nice way to honour a man that has lost his life, and now Pep will help save others so it was not in vain," she said.
"This post-sentence law has gone beyond what I had hoped for, and I believe it will be a large step in keeping families like mine safe and preventing horrific attacks on people like Pep and the many others who have suffered greatly from these senseless acts of violence."
Offences set to be covered include murder, sexual penetration without consent, unlawful assault causing death, and drink spiking.
It is expected it would apply to a convicted person for up to a five-year period following their release from prison and a breach of the new law could be met with up to five years in prison or a $12,000 fine.
Bans for 'antisocial behaviour'
A government spokesman said police could also order someone to be excluded from a PEP for six months, and "further apply for an order for up to five years".
Those orders could be applied when "a person behaves in an unlawful, antisocial, disorderly, offensive, indecent and threatening way in a precinct; and the person being in the precinct could cause violence or public disorder or impact the safety of others".
The penalty for breaching such an order would be up to two years in prison and a $12,000 fine.
Exemptions to PEP exclusions will apply for work, residential, education, health and other approved purposes.
But if a person could avoid entering a PEP by, for example, studying a TAFE course at a different campus, they would be required to do so.
Visiting entertainment precincts a 'privilege'
Racing and Gaming Minister Tony Buti said maps of the five PEPs were indicative and would be subject to consultation to allow for things like people experiencing homelessness to continue accessing support services.
Dr Buti made no apologies for imposing harsh penalties.
"No one has a right to go into an entertainment precinct, it's a privilege," he said.
"These laws are all about protecting those that are doing the right thing and having a hard, no tolerance approach to those doing the wrong things.
"We want our entertainment precinct areas to be safe, to be joyous, to be vibrant, and we want to eliminate thuggery and intimidation in these areas."
Orders will be open for review
Dr Buti also rejected the idea the orders would be used frequently by officers.
"Police have a lot of things to deal with, I don't think they'll be imposing exclusion orders just for someone that says something to police, but that might lead to other issues," he said.
The bans imposed by officers would be open to review by the Director of Liquor Licensing only if they lasted for more than a month, with an avenue of appeal to the Supreme Court also available on questions of law.
The powers to issue a short-term ban would be reserved for police ranked inspector or above, with officers to be given guidelines prepared by the commissioner to aid in exercising their power.
Those guidelines would only be finalised after the legislation had passed parliament.
Commissioner Col Blanch said the inspector would act as a check to ensure any ban was justified.
"They are in an operations centre, they make decisions based on all of the information available to them," he said.
"Not just the police officer on the ground, because I absolutely accept there are heated environments."
He said facial recognition technology would not be used to enforce the bans.
Harsher penalties 'defy logic'
In a statement, the government said the laws would aim to "protect people going out for a good time, creating safer precincts for everyone".
But criminal defence lawyer Laura Willox questioned how useful banning offenders would be, saying it "defied logic" to claim they would prevent crime without addressing the underlying issues that lead to offences.
"You can clean up the streets of the convicted offender, only to wait for the next anti-social person who has never been convicted of such an offence to come along and commit a violent type of offence for the first time," she told ABC Radio Perth.
"People who commit these offences whilst under the influence of alcohol and drugs aren't really thinking about what the consequences of their actions are going to be, unfortunately.
"Harsher penalties do not result in people committing less crimes. Unfortunately, that is the reality."
Ms Willox also queried whether the bans could result in shorter prison terms, by adding to the overall punishment facing convicted offenders.
"From a sentencing perspective, it has the effect of a double punishment," she said.
"That is something that a sentencing judge or magistrate is able to consider when taking into account personal deterrence of that individual, so it could have the effect of reducing a sentence."
Lord Mayor welcomes crackdown
Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas told ABC Radio Perth the City of Perth had been calling for tougher measures targeting anti-social behaviour for some time.
"These tougher new laws will effectively say to people, if you've got a history of carrying on like a boofhead and you want to come to one of our entertainment precincts and carry on like a boofhead, not only are you no longer welcome, in fact now it will be illegal," he said.
"The tougher we are on these sorts of people, the better, and that's what our community want.
"People and families should be able to go out into Northbridge, into Scarborough, into Fremantle and not worry about coming home safely at the end of their outing."
Mr Zempilas also said an increased police presence in the city and Northbridge had already made a difference.
