BANNED DRINKERS REGISTER
TRIAL — KIMBERLEY
1193. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the minister representing the
Minister for Racing and Gaming:
I refer to the minister's
comments in the media that the future of the banned drinkers register trial in
the Kimberley, due to start in December, is now uncertain because the Kimberley
shires have raised only $250 000 of the estimated $1 million needed for the
trial.
(1) Why did the
state government not give the Kimberley shires an estimate of the total cost of
the trial when asking them to participate?
(2) When the
Kimberley already has the computers to administer a banned drinkers register,
how did the government come to the cost estimate of $1 million for the trial?
(3) Will the minister table in
Parliament the breakdown of the estimated trial cost?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
The Minister for Racing and Gaming has provided the following information.
(1)–(3) The
member may or may not be aware that this house was informed about the status of
the Kimberley banned drinkers register and
the takeaway alcohol management system trial on 21 October 2020, in response
to a question from Hon Ken Baston. That response addresses many of the member's
queries, so I suggest he refer to Hansard.
However, for the member's information, I provide some clarity on the
history and status of a Kimberley BDR and TAMS trial. The assertion that
a trial of a TAMS and BDR in the Kimberley was to commence on 1 December 2020
is untrue.
Some time ago, the Kimberley Zone had
resolved to fund and progress a trial of a TAMS in the Kimberley and had
expressed interest in also implementing a BDR in the Kimberley. I understand
that a TAMS trial was delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Given the significant interest from several stakeholders
across the Kimberley to access a BDR as part of their community-led TAMS
trial, the Minister for Racing and Gaming
expressed his support to assist in linking a BDR in conjunction with a TAMS.
However, the number of devices and software required to ensure that all
packaged liquor outlets across the Kimberley have the required software and
hardware to adequately implement a BDR and TAMS concurrently for a two-year period requires an increased cost from that of a TAMS-only
trial. The devices currently in place in Kununurra and Wyndham are being
used at the local level and are not connected to the department's
cloud-based BDR/TAMS. They have also been installed for quite some time and
therefore are outdated compared with the systems required for a BDR. There are
currently no other devices located in any other area of the Kimberley. The
estimated cost for a two-year trial would cover the infrastructure, service and
support, and an independent evaluation. The majority of the costs is associated
with the hardware to be installed in all licensed venues across the Kimberley.