Earlier Sunday shopping bill set to pass
Shops will be allowed to open two hours earlier on Sundays and suburban traders will be permitted to open on Boxing Day under legislation expected to pass the lower house of Parliament today.
Photo supplied.
Currently, shops across Adelaide can open on Sundays from 11am to 5pm with the new legislation allowing them to open from 9am.
Significantly, suburban shops will be allowed to open on Boxing Day between 11am-5pm, which was previously only permitted of CBD businesses.
Minister for Industrial Relations Kyam Maher told ABC Radio large supermarkets would still be prohibited from opening.
“It won’t be the big supermarkets, it’ll be the small locally owned supermarkets that will be allowed to open up on Boxing Day,” he said.
In August, Premier Peter Malinauskas said The Shop Trading Hours (Extension of Hours) Amendment Bill was sensible reform.
“[It] strikes the right balance for workers, local small businesses and shoppers,” he said.
Under the changes, late night trading will also be allowed on Black Friday and the three weekdays before Christmas.
Opposition MP Matt Cowdrey told ABC radio the opposition welcomed the changes to trading on Sunday mornings.
“[However] There’s a little bit of a sting in the tail in effectively, the confusion and strange arrangements where most shops can’t trade on public holidays, is effectively locked in for the next four years.”
Provided the bill passes, the new rules will take effect next month.