The Government of Western Australia has extended trading hours in the state. The reforms came into effect last weekend and allow hotels, taverns and small bars to trade until midnight on both Saturday and Sunday and nightclubs through to 2am on the following Monday morning. The WA Government hopes the changes, which form part of the 2015 Red Tape Reduction Report Card, will help to increase revenue and tourism for businesses. “The changes recognise modern community expectations and ...

Greg West, Camilla Tang and Jye Hosking have left their current positions with McWilliam’s Wines, Taylors Wines and Warburn Estate respectively to join Agnew Wines in the Hunter Valley. Agnew Wines has appointed West as Retail Operations Manager and Tang and Hosking as Account Managers for NSW and the ACT. Prior to joining Agnew Wines, West was National Direct Sales Manager at McWilliam’s. As Retail Operations Manager, West will be ...

New findings published by Roy Morgan Research this week, further confirm that Woolworths Limited owned liquor stores, Dan Murphy’s and BWS, are dominating Coles owned and independent liquor retailers. The data shows both Dan Murphy’s and BWS are leading by market share and total customers. In any given week, 1.2 million Australians (representative of 23.9 per cent of total alcohol-buyers) are choosing to shop at Dan Murphy’s, spending an average of $67 each purchase ...

OLGR has said that event organisers need to liaise early with the regulatory body and police when planning significant public events involving alcohol and ensure adequate plans and controls to prevent alcohol-related problems. The warning comes following concerns about the conduct of an Oktoberfest event held in Sydney after multiple serious breaches were detected. OLGR and Police detected heavily intoxicated patrons and observed multiple violent and anti-social incidents as well ...

The winners of the 2015 AHA-Aon Hospitality Awards for Excellence were announced at the Lion Gala Ball at Crown Perth on Monday, 17 November. The Ashby Bar and Bistro was named WA’s best retail bottle shop, receiving the Retail Bottle Shop Award. The awards recognise accommodation hotels, pubs, bars, dining and tourism facilities, as well as employees that demonstrate excellence within the industry. AHA(WA) CEO, Bradley Woods said on the ...

Jo Andrew has been appointed Independent Chair of Wine Grape Growers Australia (WGGA) today. Mr. Brian Walsh, Chair of Wine Australia welcomed the appointment, saying: “We look forward to working closely with Ms. Andrew to help achieve our goal of a prosperous Australian grape and wine community.” Ms. Andrews joins the sector at a time of growing wine exports. In a sign of much needed improvement in profitability for Australian ...

Calabria Family Wines has released its long-awaited, most premium red wine, The Iconic Grand Reserve Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012. Made from 100-year-old shiraz vines in the Barossa Valley, The Iconic captures Australian fruit at its very best in the bottle. It is therefore no surprise then that the new release also sits as Calabria’s most expensive wine. Despite the $175 RRP however, The Iconic is a wine seriously worth stocking. Not only has Head ...

Retailers are celebrating a significant milestone in NSW, following the passing of a reform by the NSW Government and NSW Legislation Council that will allow all retail in the state to trade on Boxing Day. Many have been calling for the existing trading laws to be reassessed for a number of years, saying they are no longer up to date with today’s retail landscape. Retailers have also called the Retail Trading Act ...

2015 winners of the Wine Communicator Awards were announced on Tuesday night, including the coveted Wine Communicator of the Year title. It was Tyson Stelzer who was the deserved winner of this year’s Wine Communicator of the Year award, recognising his popular ‘The Champagne Guide’, as well as other published works on the Australian wine industry and his new People of the Vines television show. Also recognising Stelzer’s newly launched Champagne dedicated website and digital resource, the ...

Vic Patrick, Chair of Wine Grape Growers Australia will retire this month. Patrick has been a member of the grape and wine community for 40 years.  Brian Walsh, Chair of Wine Australia thanked Patrick for his contribution in announcement on Tuesday. “Vic has been the Chair of Wine Grape Growers Australia for the last five years as well as one of the South Australian representatives”, Walsh said. “In this time, he ...