Protected Entertainment Precincts pass Western Australian Parliament

Laws aimed at enhancing safety in Western Australia's popular entertainment precincts by banning perpetrators of violent or threatening behaviour have passed through Parliament.

The laws are expected to be in effect by the end of the year when precinct boundaries and guidelines for WA Police are finalised.

The State Government's Protected Entertainment Precincts (PEPs) will be established in Northbridge-Perth, Fremantle, Scarborough, Hillarys and Mandurah.

The Liquor Control Amendment (Protected Entertainment Precincts) Act 2022 will provide further protections for people going out for a good time doing the right thing.

PEPs are named in honour of Giuseppe 'Pep' Raco, the victim of an unprovoked one-punch attack in Northbridge in July 2020.

It means anyone convicted of various violent and sexual offences, including drink-spiking, within the precincts will receive mandatory five-year exclusions.

Police can also issue an order to exclude someone for up to six months, and further apply for an order of up to five years.

Exclusion orders can apply 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 short-term and extended exclusion orders is up to two years imprisonment, and a fine of $12,000.

Exemptions to exclusion from the precincts will apply for work, residential, education, health and other approved purposes.