The laws that came into effect on Christmas Eve 2022 were developed after the fatal one-punch attack by a stranger on nightclub manager Giuseppe Raco in July 2020.
PEP laws give WA Police the power to issue short-term exclusion orders for up to 6 months to a person who displays disruptive, violent, or threatening behaviour in the prescribed precincts of Perth-Northbridge, Fremantle, Scarborough, Hillarys or Mandurah. The Commissioner of Police may also apply to the Director of Liquor Licensing for extended exclusion orders resulting in five-year bans.
People convicted of specified offences in a public place within a PEP — including those of a sexual nature or drink spiking — face a mandatory ban of 5 years, while offenders who breach a mandatory exclusion period face a penalty of up to 5 years' jail and a $12,000 fine.
In the past two years, 214 orders were issued with 211 offenders being barred from PEP areas:
- the WA Police Force has issued 178 short-term orders;
- the Director of Liquor Licensing has imposed two extended exclusion orders; and
- convictions for specified offences which took place in a PEP have resulted in 34 excluded offenders.
Of the 178 short-term exclusion orders that have been issued, 165 related to offending in Perth-Northbridge, 4 in Mandurah, 3 in Fremantle, 3 in Scarborough and 2 in Hillarys.