Sunshine’s central business district will remain an alcohol-free zone after Victoria Police successfully applied to extend a ban for a further 12 months.
The area from Ballarat Road, down to Anderson Road, extending across from Derby Road and Whitty Street, will remain a dry zone.
The ban was introduced in 2015 to help combat alcohol-fuelled violence and makes it illegal to hold an open container of alcohol in the CBD.
Police have the ability to ban people from the CBD for a period of up to 72 hours for offences involving crimes against the person, assault, property damage, and other behavioural offences, such as being drunk and disorderly in a public place.
Acting Senior-Sergeant Martin Kappel said the goal was to reduce the levels of alcohol-related violence in the area and increase community safety.
“If people know they may be banned from the CBD for a considerable amount of time, they might think twice before breaking the law,” he said.
“We want people to know there are consequences to their actions.”
Acting Senior Sergeant Kappel said after the success of the ban in its first year, police wasted no time in applying to have the restrictions extended.
“In 2015 … we were seeing far too much alcohol-related violence, particularly around licensed premises,” he said.
“In the past couple of years, we’ve seen the ability to issue these banning notices work as
a deterrent to people who want to come
into the Sunshine CBD and commit these offences.”
The order will remain in place as part of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 until September next year.
To view a map of the affected area, visit www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/community-services/government-initiatives/designated-areas.
