Restrictions on the limit of alcohol purchases will be introduced to Whyalla, following concerns people have been travelling from the nearby town of Port Augusta to buy alcohol in bulk.
Local bottle shops in Whyalla voluntarily agreed to limit purchases on the sale of takeaway alcohol, one week after Liquor and Gambling Commissioner Dini Soulio announced liquor restrictions would become permanent in Port Augusta from November.
Mr Soulio said there had been reports of people travelling from Port Augusta to buy large quantities of alcohol to circumvent the restrictions.
"A number of people were saying that people were travelling from Port Augusta to Whyalla to buy alcohol and getting a return-trip taxi … for about $170 to simply go there and buy large quantities of alcohol," he said.
Mr Soulio said he met with licensees and police in Whyalla who told him there had been an increase in antisocial behaviour in town.
"But what was probably more disconcerting was the feedback that people were heading to Whyalla and buying five or 10 casks at a time, or sort of clearing shelves," he said.
"That alcohol ends either up back in Port Augusta or into dry communities and causes harm and defeats the purpose of what we're doing."
The new limits come into effect on Monday and allow a person to buy one cask and a bottle of spirits, or up to two bottles of spirits a day.
Mr Soulio said the measures would not be as extensive as those in place in Port Augusta.
"In Port Augusta, bottle shops can't open until 11:00am … but we haven't rolled that out to Whyalla," he said.
"We'll start with this process of just limiting the volume and the number of casks and bottles of spirits that people can buy.
"But we haven't gone down the path of reducing their hours."
Similar to Port Augusta, liquor stores in Whyalla will also be provided with the ID Scan SA app, which will record transactions of restricted items over a 24-hour period.
"This is to look at tackling some of those issues around people going from bottle shop to bottle shop to purchase those limits," Mr Soulio said.
Further expansion possible
Mr Soulio said the voluntary restrictions in Whyalla would be monitored on an ongoing basis to determine whether further action was needed.
He has already considered the possibility that the restrictions may have to expand to surrounding towns.
"I've met with the licensees in Port Pirie and just had a conversation with them that there may be a shift to Port Pirie," Mr Soulio said.
"They've agreed to keep an eye on things and if there's suddenly people showing up and asking for 10 or 20 casks then they'll also look at reducing that and putting a cap on those amounts."
Mr Soulio said data from alcohol sales and community feedback from Whyalla would determine whether further restrictions would need to be implemented.
