Prepare to have your driver's licence scanned and your personal data stored for a month if you want to party in Fortitude Valley or the Brisbane CBD later this year.
The Queensland government announced ID scanners would become mandatory in Safe Night Precincts for all venues that trade after midnight from July 1.
SNPs include Brisbane CBD, Broadbeach CBD, Fortitude Valley, Ipswich CBD, Mackay CBD, parts of the Sunshine Coast and Surfers Paradise CBD.
The pledge was made on Monday, in conjunction with an announcement that the 1am lockout - scheduled to be rolled out on February 1 - would be scrapped.
But while funding will be available to help venues pay for the technology, the government is yet to reveal how much money will be available and the process for how SNP boards will apply.
The ID scanners are designed to help authorities enforce bans on unruly patrons, which can be up to 12 months for court-imposed bans or 10 days for police bans.
Police and court bans will be provided by police to a secure Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation controlled data centre.
Approved operators of the ID scanning equipment will access the ban data from OLGR and link this with scanners at licensed premises.
People's scanned IDs at the venues will then be matched against this data.
Licensed venues can also provide their own names of people who have been banned by the venue for inclusion in the database.
It is understood that if a person was banned in Fortitude Valley, those details would be visible to other bar operators, for example in Airlie Beach, so bouncers could exercise discretion when approving entry, regardless of whether that person was banned in Airlie Beach.
There are currently two approved ID scanning system operators in Queensland, but more companies can apply.
OLGR and individual venues both keep the data for 30 days before it is erased.
Valley Liquor Accord spokesman Nick Braban said he supported the use of ID scanners, but he said he would not support them in smaller, boutique venues.
"The technology is good, what we're just hoping is there is a nuanced approach where they go into," he said.
"If we're talking about a small cocktail bar, we don't think they need a scanner and it would be a large impost on a business like that."
Mr Braban said about eight to 10 venues already had ID scanners in Fortitude Valley out of about 70 bars and pubs.
He said they cost about $500 per month to operate.
Mr Braban said the ID scanners at venues did not take a photo of the IDs, but instead recorded name and date of birth, to be checked against the ban data.
"That is then kept for 30 days locally at the venue and then by law it has to be erased," he said.
"That name, date of birth is compared to the police OLGR service... and if there's a match it flashes up on the screen essentially."
Mr Braban said it was a "big relief" for the 1am lockout to be scrapped before it was introduced.
On Monday, it was also announced that one-off permits to allow trading until 5am would be cut from 12 to six each year in SNPs.
But Fairfax Media can reveal that venues outside SNPs, for example on Caxton Street or South Bank, will still have access to 12 permits each year.
Venues inside SNPs and outside SNPs will be subjected to tightened criteria "approved by the government" to get access to the permits.
But that specific criteria is still under development and is yet to be announced by the government.
The permits were slashed following accusations they were being "abused" by venues, as since July 1, there was not a single weekend night where all venues in Fortitude Valley stopped service alcohol at 3am.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said permits to allow venues to serve alcohol until 5am needed to be available for significant events.
"And we're talking about significant events here," Ms Palaszczuk said.
"I know in the Valley for example they have the big QMusic weekend, we also have the Commonwealth Games coming up."
Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said venues would have to show they were applying for special events that were not associated with their normal business functions.
"That it is a significant event for the area, for the region, for the state that would warrant that permit being granted," Ms D'Ath said.
"The way that the permit system is being used to simply extend normal trading hours on a weekend will stop.
"We want to make sure that we can have a genuine implementation of the 3am and 2am last drinks."
Ms D'Ath said the government did not want to get rid of permits completely, citing significant events, for example a sporting event, such as the World Cup, that did not start until 2am, where people wanted to attend a licensed venue.
A report into the first six months of the government's new laws - including last drinks at 2am in Queensland or 3am in SNPs - showed no obvious reduction in alcohol-related assaults.
Deakin University Professor Peter Miller, who prepared the report alongside other researchers, said it was still too early to determine whether the government's policy had an impact on alcohol-fuelled violence.
"And the key thing we found was in fact the last drinks hasn't been in place at all, because the government put in place extended trading permits and these have been used extensively to the point where Fortitude Valley wasn't ever actually shut at 3am," Professor Miller said.
Professor Miller said lockouts had not found to make an impact in previous studies, but last drinks could be really effective.
He said there was also few studies on ID scanners but evidence from Newcastle was promising.
"When you combine it with a banning regime of the serious troublemakers you can start to see some impacts but that is going to build over time and we don't really have the solid evaluation like we do with last drinks," Professor Miller said.
Professor Miller questioned why six special events permits were still allowed for SNPs, as big nights like New Year's Eve or St Patrick's Day and footy finals were when emergency services were already stretched.
But he acknowledged the government for being willing to look at evidence and reconsider its position, saying that should be lauded.
AMA Queensland president Chris Zappala said it was disappointing the government had abandoned the lockout but a mandatory ID scanning system in venues would make a big difference.
"A linked system of electronic ID scanners will ensure that intoxicated patrons who have been refused service in one venue cannot simply walk into another," Dr Zappala said.
Dr Zappala said doctors were extremely supportive of the new laws.
"Any legislation that sees fewer patients in our emergency departments after a night out is a step in the right direction," he said.
QMusic executive officer Joel Edmondson said a 1am lockout would have caused significant damage to the music industry, but it supported mandatory ID scanners.
"It's a pity that it took a year of uncertainty before these laws were scrapped but we thank the government for continuing discussion with QMusic and others over the last 12 months," Mr Edmondson said.
"The lockout laws were never founded on hard data relevant to Queensland - they were founded on a hunch. And that hunch would have damaged our great music industry."
Mr Edmondson pointed to Queensland acts like Powderfinger, Ball Park Music and Violent Soho who built their careers on playing shows in Brisbane in the early hours of the morning.
"Their ability to build an audience would have been severely affected by lockout laws, because restricting movement between venues and drastically reducing trading hours makes many otherwise safe live music venues unfeasible," he said.
How does Queensland compare to Sydney and Melbourne?
The NSW government mandated venues in the CBD and nearby Kings Cross introduce last drinks at 3am with a 1.30am lockout.
Bottle shops statewide also had to be closed by 10pm.
But after deciding to relax the laws, from February, 2017, closing times for Sydney CBD and Kings Cross venues will move from 3am to 3.30am and lockout times from 1.30am to 2am if live entertainment is provided.
Bottle shops and home delivery alcohol sales will be extended from 10pm to 11pm across the state.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has ruled out introducing lockouts laws in Melbourne, but the state had a failed trial of a 2am lockout policy in 2008.
In comparison, last drinks are at 2am across Queensland, or 3am last drinks in Safe Night Precincts, with shots banned after midnight.
A 1am lockout was expected to be introduced on February 1 for venues trading until 3am, but that has been scrapped.
