Summary: The New South Wales Lockout Laws

The New South Wales Lockout Laws, are laws that aim to reduce the amount of drug and alcohol related violence that resulted in a number of fatalities which occurred in Sydney’s CBD.

What provoked the change for lockout laws was the series of coward punch occurrences. One of the incidents which prompted it, was the death of Thomas Kelly. Thomas Kelly was 18 years old on his first night out to Kings Cross on July 7th 2012. When at 10pm, he received an unprovoked punched to the head, and he collapsed causing his head to smash onto the concrete. Thomas Kelly died on July 9, 2012 at 7:59pm. Kelly’s parents instigated a lot of legal action, which contributed to the rise in a change of law. The death of Daniel Christie also encouraged this change …show more content…
The people that are for the laws believe that the lockout laws were a good idea, as it was damaging businesses and Sydney’s nightlife was seen as chaotic. They also believe that the laws are good because before they were put in place some overseas tourists were quite scared and frightened of the nightlife. Thus, these laws are seen to have made Sydney more civilised and has assisted in reducing the problem of drug and alcohol fuelled decimation. All of this is true, as in the article, “Sydney’s lockout laws : The for and against” (2016) by the Sydney Morning Herald, it identifies Steve Pate as someone who approves the lockouts. He mentions Sydney’s nightlife to be, “aggressive, drunk and unsafe”. Therefore, due to the lockout laws he now believes that Sydney has found a “middle ground” when it comes to the lockouts, as nightlife is no longer as damaging as …show more content…
This is true, as the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), have made a report which states how effective the lockout laws are. According this BOCSAR report there was, “immediate and substantial reduction in assault in Kings Cross (down 32%) and a less immediate but substantial and perhaps ongoing reduction in assault in the Sydney CBD (down 26%).” Hence, this statistic shows that the lockout laws have successfully decreased the amount of alcohol-fuelled violence in Kings Cross and Sydney CBD. Overall in New South Wales, there has been a dramatic drop in assaults since January 2014. The graph below proves

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