Australia’s workers and retail bosses say the Victorian government needs to hurry up with new laws to target retail crime. (Source: Getty/ABC 7.30)
The Victorian government has been urged to fast-track new laws to crackdown on the alarming problem of violence faced by frontline retail workers in the state. It comes as major retail giants decry the level of theft and threatening behaviour faced by their staff.
Independent supermarkets say they could even be forced to close stores if theft isn’t brought under control while Bunnings has taken the dramatic step of rolling out new security gates at the entrance and exit of five stores in Victoria due to “escalating retail crime”.
“Like many other retailers, we’re exploring the use of security gates as another tool, alongside a range of existing measures, to help keep our team and customers safe,” Bunnings Director of Stores, Rod Caust recently told Yahoo Finance.
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The Victorian state government and Premier Jacinta Allan promised laws to crack down on the assault and abuse of retail workers by the end of this year. But with just weeks left until Christmas, time is running out for her government to make good on the promise, which was first made in May last year.
Data shows one-in-three retail crimes across Australia took place in Victoria – 60 per cent more than any other state.
Over the weekend, the state branch of the retail workers’ union called out the premier for dragging her feet and allowing aggressive retail crime to get out of hand.
Michael Donovan, the sate’s branch secretary of the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association said Victorian workers are long overdue for better protection and called for powers that retailers could enforce to better protect their staff.
“Victoria has a more significant problem with customer violence than any other state, but still no action,” he told the media.
“How much longer are law abiding shoppers and frontline retail workers in Victoria going to have to wait to get the protection they need from the tsunami of customer violence and abuse?”
The Springvale store in Melbourne was the first Bunnings centre to be fitted with the gates at the entrance and exit. (Source: Supplied/Bunnings)
The ACT has laws that allow judges to impose workplace protection orders that prohibit individuals engaging in violence towards workers from attending particular shops for up to 12 months. It’s something the retail union wants to see immediately replicated in Victoria.
The measure was enforced against 13 “high harm” offenders from Woolworths stores which was linked to a 23 per cent reduction in incidents at those Canberra supermarkets, The Australian reported.
The Allan government insists it will fulfil its promise of introducing new retail safety laws this year.
Wesfarmers, the conglomerate that owns Bunnings, Kmart, Target and Priceline Pharmacy revealed at its annual general meeting last month that staff at its retail stores are being threatened by customers more than 1000 times a month, with many incidents involving weapons.
Incidents involving threats of serious harm at Bunnings rose by 66 per cent while threatening incidents at Kmart increased 29 per cent, chief executive Rob Scott said.
“We support sensible reform, including tougher, nationally consistent penalties for violent retail crime and a national conversation to enable controlled, responsible use of technology to exclude known violent offenders from retail environments,” he said.
Bunnings is now copying Coles and Woolworths by introducing a new layout at the entrance and exit of its stores to deter offenders and provide a safer shopping environment for customers and staff.
In September, the CEO of independent supermarket business IGA, Fred Harrison, warned that some stores could even face closure in the face of the crippling shoplifting problem.
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