The WA government continues to push ahead to introduce legislation in state parliament to allow Sunday trading for all shops in the Perth metropolitan area.
Amendments to the Retail Trading Hours Act will see all metropolitan general retail shops, which includes major supermarkets and department stores, being allowed to open between 11am and 5pm on Sundays. The special trading precincts in Perth, Fremantle, Midland, Armadale and Joondalup will therefore be abolished.
Commerce and Small Business Minister Simon O’Brien said the changes were part of the state government’s ongoing campaign to relax restrictions on trading hours and create a fairer and more competitive retail sector.
“Since 2009, the Government has introduced late night trading on weekdays and increased and expanded special shopping precincts to create more opportunities for consumers and traders,” he said.
“The precincts proved that there was a demand for shopping on Sundays and public holidays but gave the traders located within these precincts an unfair advantage over their competitors located outside. These amendments will address those concerns and produce a fairer and more equitable marketplace to benefit both traders and consumers.”
The amendments will give the Minister discretion to allow general retail shops to trade on public holidays, except for Christmas Day, Good Friday and ANZAC Day.