Temperatures continue to rise in Queensland over the state of our entertainment precincts. Glass bans, a proposal of a midnight lockout and a 2am shutdown from the Queensland Police Union and an increase in police presence have all been put forward as solutions to reduce alcohol related violence on the streets. In reaction to these sensational band-aid resolutions, the bid for chill-out zones and ID scanners have been presented as viable solutions, with some of Brisbane’s biggest venues set to install them by early next year.

With hot words waging on forums and in discussions alike about ID Scanners now at Casablanca, Family Nightclub, The Met and Love and Rockets, more venues are expected to have ID Scanners installed within the next month. However, the most shocking news to date has been today’s public declaration that new fingerprinting scanning systems will be introduced to Katarzyna Group venues including Cloudland, The Family, Empire Hotel, Press Club and Birdiee Num Nums by the end of February, with the system already in use at Options Tavern in Helensvale and a number of establishments in Sydney.

Police blitz “Operation Unite” has been announced for December 11 and 12, with an increased police presence, including mounted police and the dog squad police on patrol. Starting from 11am on December 11, police will be cracking down against alcohol related violence and crime with overt and covert operations and random breath testings. Following on the heels of this public announcement, a year long safety program Your Playground. Play Nice. Play Safe was unveiled by the Valley Liquor Accord last week; a program being run in conjunction with Drug Arm as part of the government’s Safer Venues campaign.

The natural concern from this announcement is the issue of privacy. The Queensland Hotels Association and many other related bodies endorse the system as a means of discouraging anti-social behaviour while making it simple for patrons to revisit the same venues within a 28 day turnaround. However, privacy concerns are uppermost in clubber’s minds. While all these bids are certainly a proactive reaction against the violence on our streets, the question still remains: With no privacy laws in place for venues to store the obtained information securely, who exactly has access to the information once it has been taken?