In a South Australian first, all suburban shops in addition to the CBD and regional areas, are to be allowed to open on the Labour Day public holiday, Monday 4 October.
Treasurer, Rob Lucas said he granted the exemption under the Shop Trading Hours Act 1977, which gave all metropolitan retailers, regardless of their size or location, the freedom to trade from 11am to 5pm on Labour Day if they choose.
Mr Lucas said no employee could be forced to work under the Shop Trading exemption.
“We know there’ll be many families right across Adelaide who will welcome the greater freedom to shop towards the end of the long-weekend, including those who might need to stock up on supplies – such as groceries and food – ahead of the second week of school holidays and a new working week,” he said.
“Under our existing, archaic shop trading laws – larger supermarkets (those over 400sqm) and other retailers (over 200sqm) outside of the CBD and regional areas are prevented from opening their doors, which simply doesn’t make any sense.
“From supermarkets and homeware stores to fashion retailers and hardware suppliers, if traders want to trade, shoppers want to shop and there are workers willing and able to work, why should our silly shop trading laws stop them?”
Mr Lucas said the most recent Retail Trade figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that online sales in July 2021 were at their highest monthly level in the history of that data series.
“This highlights the increasing shift to online shopping by Australian consumers and why we have to do everything we can in South Australia to take the handbrake off for local bricks and mortar businesses,” Mr Lucas said.
