Customers who assault or threaten retail and hospitality workers in Victoria will face prison sentences of up to five years, under proposed tougher penalties to be introduced by the Allan government on Friday.
The crackdown will also apply to workers in fast food and ride share and delivery drivers. The proposed legislation is the latest in a suite of crime crackdowns announced this week, in a bid to reduce community concern ahead of next year’s state election.
Under the proposed changes, a summary offence for lower-level assaults and threatening or intimidatory behaviour comes with a maximum sentence of six months. Shopfront ram raids, a common occurrence during Victoria’s tobacco turf wars, will also be re-listed as aggravated burglary and punishable by up to 25 years in prison.
Speaking to the ABC, Allan said the abuse and threats against retail workers was happening “far too often.”
“Everyone knows the difference between a customer from hell and a customer who harms,” she said.
“We will stand with retail workers but also other workers in those customer-facing roles to strengthen the protections for them with stronger jail terms and consequences for people who threaten, abuse retail workers.”
The government flagged the worker assault laws 18 months ago and hopes to pass them by the end of 2025. Separate legislation will come before parliament in April 2026 for workplace protection orders to bar violent customers from visiting particular shops.
The orders have been rolled out in the ACT, with other states and territories developing their own models.
The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association (SDA) has been campaigning for such orders, which now only exist in the ACT, for more than two years.
The Victorian secretary for the SDA, Michael Donovan, backed the proposed crackdown, saying retail assaults were a “serious issue” for the union’s members.
“We’re not just talking about people being a bit rude to you. Our members have been screamed at, pushed, shoved, dragged across the counter, had things thrown at them, being spat on, being threatened ‘we’ll get you in the car park’ right through to stabbings,” he told 3AW radio on Friday morning.
Donovan said the SDA wanted to see the tougher penalties in effect by Christmas.
The Australian Retailers Association’s chief executive, Chris Rodwell, said the announcement was an “important step in the right direction” as Victoria was the “nation’s outlier” in protecting frontline retail staff.
“It’s critical to the people working across the retail sector that these vital laws are passed and enforced without delay.”
Woolworths operations director in the state, Sarah Gooding, said 40% of all reported incidents last year occurred in its Victorian stores.
“The announcement is a big step forward for our team members, many of whom spoke up with courage in recent months about the violence and abuse they’ve encountered while simply doing their job,” she said.
In Victoria, theft from retail stores rose to 41,667 offences in 2024/25 – an increase of 9,004, or 27.6% on the previous year, the latest data released by the Crime Statistics Agency in September showed.
The tougher penalties come after the government on Wednesday unveiled its “adult time for violent crime” policy – mirroring the approach implemented by Queensland’s Liberal-National government after its election victory in 2024.
Under the proposed changes, children as young as 14 would face adult courts for serious and violent offences. If found guilty, they could be sentenced to life in prison.
-with AAP
