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Category: Retail / State Parliament / Christianity / Hospitality

Easter Sunday holiday bid could see changes to trading hours

Wednesday, 31 Aug 2016 09:56:29 | Chris O'Brien

Shoppers walk through Queen Street Mall in Brisbane, Australia. (AAP: Dan Peled)

Weekend and public holiday trading hours could be relaxed in Queensland in exchange for making Easter Sunday a public holiday, the State Industrial Relations Minister Grace Grace says.

The changes to Easter Sunday will be introduced to State Parliament this week and are expected to come up for debate later this year.

Ms Grace admitted the extra public holiday would cost more for employers who would be forced to pay double time and half instead of double time on Easter Sunday.

But she told 612 ABC Brisbane that broader changes could benefit retail traders.

"We are coupling this announcement of Easter Sunday becoming a public holiday with a review of the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act," Ms Grace said.

Among the issues to be examined would be the current limit of 20 workers that a business may employ to be allowed to open on some public holidays, and the regional variations of opening hours.

"That's what we want the stakeholders to look at and there are some areas like on the Gold Coast where businesses can trade on Easter Sunday but nowhere else," Ms Grace said.

"And then there are a number of anomalies like you close at 5.00pm on Saturday but you close at 6.00pm on Sunday.

"We'll be putting together a group including the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Retailers Association and unions, because there are elements of the act that are a bit out of date.

"We are going to get them around the table with enough time to be able to look at the trading hours, knowing that Easter Sunday is soon to be declared a public holiday and we can see by the time it comes in how we might be able to modernise that particular act."

An Easter Sunday holiday 'will cost employers millions'

Nick Behrens from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland (CCIQ) said the Minister was admitting the community already saw no difference between a public holiday and Easter Sunday as it currently stood.

"The only practical implication of this bill that will go before Parliament is that the penalty rate loadings will change," he said.

"There will be a significant increase in wage rates on that day and the estimated cost on the Queensland economy will be $53 million and that will fall entirely on the retail and hospitality sectors."

But Ms Grace said this had not occurred in other states.

"In New South Wales this has been in since 2011, Victoria brought it in this year and they have seen none of the claims that have currently been made by the CCIQ," she said.

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