Conversion a pain in the glass

Queensland hotels say attempts to reduce violent incidents by going glass free are being stymied by a shortage of alternative products.

Three more glassings occurred in south-east Queensland on the weekend, including two at licensed venues - one at the Exchange Hotel in Brisbane's CBD and one at Surfair Hotel on the Sunshine Coast.

Exchange Hotel general manager Dustin Osborn said he was "surprised" by Saturday night's altercation, in which a 21-year-old woman allegedly struck another 21-year-old woman in the face with a broken beer glass.

"We hadn't had a glassing here since we relaunched last year," Mr Osborn said.

The incidents come after a government crackdown on alcohol-related violence last year mandated eight 'high risk' Queensland licensees replace glassware with shatterproof vessels.

In March 2010 the Parliamentary Law, Justice and Safety Committee made 68 recommendations to address alcohol-related violence, including phasing out regular glass after midnight at certain venues, changes to trading hours, local management plans, introducing ID scanners, and better services including public transport.

The Government is currently considering the views of the community and key stakeholders before making decisions on the committee's recommendations.

The Exchange began voluntarily adopting shatter-proof glasses last year, a move Mr Osborn said came "at great cost".

He said the venue's spirits glasses were now polycarbonate and within months the beer glasses would be too.

However, attempts to replace the venue's wine glasses with shatterproof vessels were being stymied by a lack of supply.

"We've found it hard to get our hands on products that are suitable both in terms of appearance but also of quality," Mr Osborn said.

"We're not the only venue trying to phase in shatterproof products at the moment so heavy demand is clearly having an impact."

Damian Steele of the Queensland Hotels Association said that the local market was short on the supply of some "exotic" glass shapes such as champagne flutes, cocktail glasses and wine glasses. Mr Steele said some venues chose to replace glass with polycarbonate or tempered glass products for reasons beyond issues relating to alcohol-related violence.

"For some venues, transitioning isn't just a question of harm minimisation," he said.

"In some instances the decision is commercial.

"One of the clear cost benefits associated with glass alternatives is a reduction in breakage costs for example."

But Mr Steele said that process of switching was costly and time consuming with the bill for a standard city pub coming in at around $11,000 across six to 12 months as breakage and routine replacement required.

An Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation spokeswoman said she was not aware of any supply issues with glass alternatives.

Mr Osborn said another challenge associated with switching to a glass-free venue was what to do with bottles of beer and wine.

While high-risk venues are forced to have staff pour stubbies out into plastic cups before handing drinks over the bar, there was little incentive for other pubs to follow suit, Mr Osborn said.

"Unfortunately that slows down service and isn't very cost effective," Mr Osborn said.

"It's also an issue for the beer companies in terms of branding if their product isn't being consumed from a recognisable bottle.

"There is some talk of more beer and wine in plastic bottles coming if that's the way the industry goes but at this stage, you either face changing to cans or pouring at the bar."

Mr Steele said harm minimisation remained the industry's top priority.

"We see glass bans as treatment of a symptom, not the disease," he said.

"If the government is serious about addressing alcohol related violence, they need to address the social problems at the heart of it.

"We do support glass bans as an added safety measure in venues where the risk is justified and there are venues that have done their own critical assessment and have voluntarily decided to remove glass.

"But we are for better education, tougher penalties on perpetrators if alcohol related violence and holding individuals accountable for their actions when it comes to improving public safety."

Published in the Brisbane Times on 8th June.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/conversion-a-pain-in-the-g...