Since February 8, Port Augusta bottle shops have been subject to strict orders prohibiting opening before 11am and limiting customer purchases of fortified wine/port and 2L cask wine to one per day. Sales of cask wine above 2L are also prohibited.

The restrictions, which do not apply to companies operating mining ventures or managers of station properties, were initially branded as a “temporary” measure in response to an influx of people into Port Augusta who were unable to return home due to flooded roads and COVID-19 lockdowns in remote communities.

When first announcing the initial two-week restrictions in February, Liquor and Gambling Commissioner Dini Soulio said the decision was made “based on advice from South Australia Police indicating there has been an increase in alcohol-related offences and antisocial behaviour in the last few weeks”.

A four-week extension was approved on February 22. 

But the Commissioner now says the restrictions will be extended for another three months, with discussions about whether they should become permanent.

“Feedback from support services and medical staff continues to be positive, with reports of a reduction in alcohol-related harm and presentations due to alcohol-related issues,” a commission spokesperson said on Tuesday.

“As a result, the Commissioner for Liquor and Gambling has determined restrictions should continue for the next three months.”

The spokesperson said the three-month extension will allow data on the restrictions to be “rigorously analysed” and submissions will be sought from key stakeholders “to see whether some form of restriction should be imposed on an ongoing basis”.

The latest version of the restrictions now allows patrons to purchase alcohol after arriving at a bottle shop in a taxi but still prohibits on-duty taxi drivers from ordering alcohol.

The requirements for all customers to show their identification and bottle shops to record transactions were dropped on February 22.

Permanent restrictions on alcohol sales already exist in Coober Pedy and Ceduna.

Soulio has previously told InDaily that if restrictions in Port Augusta were to be extended on a permanent basis, “more extensive consultation would be undertaken with licensees, Council, SAPOL, Aboriginal leaders and help services”.

South Australian Network of Drug and Alcohol Services executive officer Michael White the ban has not been “tremendously effective” in its first six weeks.

“Usually when these things are first implemented there’s a big effect, sometimes positive, but there are also what we call perverse effects,” he said.

“There will be a cohort of people for whom it will have helped them control their drinking, which will be great.

“There will be another cohort who will wake up in the morning really sick and need a drink physiologically … if they don’t have a drink they will go into a serious medical condition.

“For those people that can be quite problematic.”

White also said the effectiveness of the restrictions was diminished given the towns surrounding Port Augusta are not subject to the same rules.

He described the bottle shop orders as a “licensing response to a health problem”.

“We need a health-based response as well.”