Crackdown on retail worker assaults stings more than 400 thugs with charges, experts warn more work to do

More than 400 people have been taken to court under new laws aimed at punishing thugs who assault retail workers, but experts warn the real number could be more than double. Exclusive data obtained by The West Australian reveals there have been at least 220 separate convictions since the laws came into effect last July. The new laws mean customers who assault retail staff face up to seven years’ jail, while maximum fines were doubled to $36,000. Offenders armed or accompanied by others face up to 10 years behind bars. The latest data, obtained through the courts, showed there were 403 individuals charged with a total of 483 charges as of August 31. But the retail union said that figure could “possibly (be) more than double because not every assault is reported”. “There are a lot of these incidents happening but I imagine it’s the worst of the worst (that) are being reported to police and we’re seeing people charged off the back of,” Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association WA secretary Ben Harris said. “I tried to have this conversation with this young worker that, no, it’s not part of the job, you shouldn’t accept that someone’s going to physically push you while you’re just doing your job.” Of those 483 charges, there had been 220 convictions and 43 charges withdrawn from prosecution. There has been just one acquittal. Mr Harris is keen to find out the sentences imposed by judges and magistrates, which he said would determine how successful the new laws were in deterring offenders. He added WA’s retail-barring orders — which would ban offenders who assault or abuse workers from entering stores — would be the “next tool to help really step up the protection for workers in retail environments”. Those laws are still being developed and are yet to be introduced to Parliament. Some of the nation’s biggest retailers, including supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles, as well as department store Myer, are pushing for tougher retail crime legislations, particularly the introduction of retail-barring orders right across the country. The ACT is the only jurisdiction with such legislation in place. MGA Independent Businesses Australia — the peak body representing independent grocers and liquor and hardware retailers — said fast-tracking retail-barring orders was just one of the measures it supported to give retailers and their workers legal protection. “This reform is urgent and would provide some hope that the law is there to protect hard-working small, family-owned independent retail businesses doing what they can in difficult circumstances to serve their communities,” chief executive Martin Stirling this week said. “Each week we hear more heartbreaking stories of retailers being threatened, intimidated and left shaken — no one should go to work fearing for their safety.” Speaking to The West Australian last month, Woolworths’ head of acts of violence and aggression prevention Sarah Faorlin said retail-barring orders meant team members who were assaulted or abused wouldn’t have to go through the judicial process of sitting in court and giving evidence. “Retail-barring orders would enable Woolworths to take that burden away from (the) team,” she said, adding the ACT’s workplace protection orders, similar to retail-barring orders, were proving to be a “really effective tool”.