One of the most interesting small bars to open in Brisbane since the bar licence was introduced is Canvas.

This vintage inspired cocktail bar is in the heart of the popular Woolloongabba Antique Precinct. Nestled amongst some of Brisbane’s best caf?’s, restaurants and antique centres, Canvas provides a mystical sanctuary where you can enjoy delectable cocktails, mixed by some of Australia’s top bartenders, boutique wine, craft beer, and rustic French/Spanish inspired food boards.

The interior of this intimate bar is quite different from anything else in Brisbane. Talented interior designer, Alexa Nice, brings a quirky blend of edgy and opulent design to the venue using recycled materials to bring as much of Brisbane into the bar as possible.

Recycled timber panels and planter boxes filled with flowers and ivy adorn the walls and most of the furniture was sourced from local second hand/vintage shops and auctions. A captivating ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ style mural on the feature wall and sketches throughout the menu were done by local Brisbane street artists.

Since opening in July, Canvas has been nominated for a number of awards and was recently named ‘Best Bar’ in the 2011 Courier Mail Food & Wine Guide. Pop into Canvas and enjoy live music on Sunday afternoon, Tapas and Tequila on Tuesday, or the Absinthe Green Hour on Thursday. Open from 3-midnight every day except Monday.

For more information and bookings:

Website: www.canvasclub.com.au

Facebook: www.facebook.com/canvasbrisbane

Phone: (07) 3891 2111

Address: 16b Logan Road, Woolloongabba

Since the introduction of the Bar Licence on 1st January 2010, only eleven of these licences have been issued in Queensland. Of these, only one is in Fortitude Valley; hardly the small bar revolution envisioned when this new licence category was announced.

The limited number of new bars has not been because of a lack of interest from the public, we have received several enquiries from people interested in opening a bar in Fortitude Valley and other areas, it is due to the classification of a bar as a “Hotel” under town planning schemes.

Until recently if you wanted to open a bar (or hotel) in Fortitude Valley, you were required to make a code or impact assessable town planning application – both long and costly exercises. This made it financially unviable to open a bar with a maximum capacity of 60 persons.

On 1st October 2010 the revised Fortitude Valley Neighbourhood Plan came into effect. Under the new plan the use of premises as a hotel is now self assessable where:

• the use does not involve building work (internal fitout does not constitute building work)
• the buildins is in the Special Entertainment Precinct Core Area
• the premises has 100m? or less in gross floor area (Other uses may occupy an area greater than 100m2, provided the licensed component is 100m? or less. This would apply to fusion bars attached to existing businesses such as shops, hairdressers etc.)
• the premises is not located within the same building as, or within 5m from, a residential dwelling.

This makes the prospect of opening a bar in Fortitude Valley much more attractive and we may now see some more vibrancy in our laneways and small spaces.

The Parliamentary Enquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence delivered its report to Parliament on 18th March 2010. The Government’s response is due to be tabled in Parliament on 31st August. A joint press release from the Premier and the Minister responsible for liquor licensing, dated 29th August, indicates the Government’s position on a number of key issues. Industry stakeholders were taken through the major elements of the response at a meeting on 30th August.

No Change to Lockout or Trading Hours

There will be no immediate change to the lockout or trading hours regime. The Law Justice and Safety Committee (LJSC) recommended:

• Bringing the lockout forward to 2am
• An overall reduction in trading hours
• the introdcution of a two tiered regime whereby venues in designated entertainment precincts would be permitted to trade later than those venues outside the precincts
• A reduction in the permitted trading hours for bottleshops

These recommendations contradicted the findings of the LJSC enquiry, which found no correlation between extended trading hours and alcohol-related violence.

Liquor & Gaming Specialists, on behalf of a number of liquor accords, made a submission to Parliament arguing against any reduction in trading hours, in the absence of any hard data showing this would reduce problems associated with alcohol. We were not alone in our opposition to this recommendation with support coming from other accords, industry bodies and from a number of community groups.

We welcome the Government’s decision to resist tampering with trading hours to please the vocal minority and we, along with all responsible licensees, are committed to continuing to work with all stakeholders to reduce the social impact of alcohol.

Drink Safe Precincts

The Drink Safe Precincts (DSPs) will be trialled in Fortitude Valley, Gold Coast and Townsville. These precincts will have more police and support services, supervised taxi zones, safe zones and a coordinated management strategy similar to those in place for major sporting events and concerts. We believe a structured approach to the management of these high density areas is a logical step in the evolution of the Queensland licensed hospitality industry.

More police on the street, providing a visible deterrent and clamping down on troublemakers, was demonstrated as a successful counter-measure to alchol-related violence during Operation Merit. However, we hope any increase in arrests and convictions, resulting from greater numbers of police on the street, will not be used as an argument for further restrictions on licensees in the future.

Of the 68 recommendation contained in the LJSC report, 58 have received a positive response. Follow this link to download the Queensland Government’s Response to the Law Justice and Safety Committee’ final report into alcohol-related violence.

The Gaming Machine Act 1991 was amended in October 2009 by the Gambling and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2009. The date of commencement for the amendments will be 1 October 2010 and from that date, “a person must not carry out gaming duties or gaming tasks on licensed premises unless that person holds a current responsible service of gambling course certificate.”

This requirement “does not apply until 1 July 2011 in relation to a person who, immediately before the commencement day, was employed to carry out gaming duties or gaming tasks on licensed premises.”

Who must hold a certificate?

The mandatory training provisions will automatically apply to all eligible gaming licensees, licensed gaming nominees and licensed gaming employees. It is possible that this provision may also apply to employees who assist with gaming, but are not licensed gaming employees.

Who can provide the training?

To comply with the legislation, training must be provided by an OLGR approved trainer. At the time of writing (30 June 2010), OLGR has not approved any trainers to deliver the responsible service of gambling course. However, there are transitional provisions relating to training carried out before the commencement day by a trainer not approved by OLGR.

Will my existing training be acceptable?

Any person who has achieved either SITHGAM006A or THHADGO3B – Provide Responsible Gambling Services, in the 12 months before 1 October 2010, may apply for an exemption from mandatory training. The exemption, if granted, will remain in place until 1 July 2013.

Summary of requirements.

Training mandatory from 1 October 2010.

Existing Employees – must complete training before 30 June 2011.

New Employees – must complete training within three months.

Non-approved training – may qualify for an exemption up until 1 July 2013.

Queensland Parliamentary Enquiry into Alcohol-Related Violence has finished and the final report contains 68 recommendations. One recommendation is to ban bottleshops from advertsing discounted liquor in Queensland.

It contravenes trade practices law to fix prices. However, research has shown that price is one of the effective means of addressing levels of liquor consumption.

A UK study (Purshouse R C 2010) said:

General price increases were effective for a reduction of consumption, health care costs, and health-related quality of life losses in all population sub-groups.

Remember dollar drinks, 2 for 1 offers and four hour happy hours? Prior to the 2005 amendments to the Liquor Act, enacting the Brisbane City Safety Action Plan, the media was full of these kinds of promotions. That?s when the Queensland State Government cleverly side-stepped the TPA problem by regulating advertising rather than price, with the result that advertising, at least for the on-premises branch of the industry, shifted focus to image ? entertainment and food offerings and so on. Despite initial reservations, licensees across the board were very quickly on side.

Consider the impact of this change on the perception of liquor as a product.

This strategy must be extended to capture the 70 to 80% of total liquor sales represented by off premises outlets. No-one can argue that continuing to permit advertising of $2 and $3 bottles of wine is consistent with changing cultural and societal attitudes toward liquor consumption.

Our treasurer recently commented along the lines of  “No-one goes to First Choice for the decor” but perhaps they should. And if not for the decor, then for the customer service, or the range, or the wine expertise, or the convenience and parking – not simply price.