An Illawarra politician has rejected suggestions Sydney CBD-style lockout laws should be introduced here, saying Wollongong's nightlife behaviour has already improved without them.
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A report released by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research [BOCSAR] this week showed state government reforms introduced last year, including 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks, "appear to have reduced the incidence of assault in the Kings Cross and CBD".
The report did, however, say it was unclear if the result was due to a change in alcohol consumption or a change in the number of people visiting the area.
Earlier this month, a campaign by emergency services workers - dubbed Last Drinks - called for the laws to be extended across the state. The sentiment was echoed this week by Dr Anthony Grabs, director of trauma services at St Vincent's Hospital.
But parliamentary secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward said the current Wollongong approach, in which venues worked with each other and police, did not need to change.
"In my view, the liquor accord in the Illawarra works perfectly well," Mr Ward said.
"Those laws in the CBD were about responding to alcohol-related violence and crime that was prevalent in the CBD.
"The way the legislation was worded allows for those controls to be rolled out to places like the Illawarra, but the government has no plans to do that at this point because the liquor accord is working well.
"It's always an option should the option be required, but we don't have the same issues here as Sydney; we're much smarter people here in the Illawarra, we drink much more responsibly."
Director of policing and membership with the NSW branch of the Australian Hotels Association, John Green, met Illawarra hoteliers in Warilla last month to present BOCSAR statistics that showed assault rates in Wollongong and Shellharbour pubs and clubs had fallen 43.6 per cent since 2008. Mr Green, who was unavailable on Friday, told the Mercury at the time the group hoped to continue implementing their own liquor accords without being subjected to harsh and "ineffective" lockout laws.
Meanwhile, opposition Illawarra spokesman Ryan Park has called on the government to outline a plan to increase police resources after BOCSAR data revealed increases in domestic violence, sexual assaults and indecent assaults in Wollongong last year.