Business groups the National Retail Association (NRA) and the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) have declared that Victorian retailers have had enough of customer abuse.
Last week a Dymocks employee was knocked unconscious and pushed down a moving escalator, the latest example of the violent behaviour endured by retailers across the state.
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said that threatening behaviour towards retail staff in Victoria is up a staggering 85 per cent in 2021.
“Threatening behaviour towards Victorian retail staff in 2021 is up by a staggering 85 per cent and it simply must end. Our members have had a gutful,” Ms Lamb said.
“No one deserves a serve of abuse, but many of the workers on the receiving end of unruly behaviour are young and inexperienced staff. These are high-schoolers, university students, or simply young people looking to make an honest living doing nothing other than their job.
“NRA members are fearful that things will only get worse over the coming weeks as large crowds descend on shopping precincts for Christmas purchases.”
Ms Lamb urged the Victorian Government to follow New South Wales’s lead and remove the current requirement for retailers to enforce COVID rules.
“Retail workers are not the police or trained security personnel. A 19-year-old part-time worker in a book shop or grocery store doesn’t have it in their job description to deal with physical confrontation and nor should they.
“Additionally, Victorian retailers are now being forced to fork thousands of dollars a week for security guards out of their own pocket. After countless lockdowns in the last 18 months, the last thing we need to be doing is adding unnecessary expenses to mum-and-dad small businesses.”
ABA CEO Robbie Egan said the abuse towards staff in bookshops has been escalating and that a repeat of the Dymocks incident cannot occur.
“A bookshop is probably the last type of business you expect to see threatening behaviour. The fact it’s occurring in places such as Dymocks is an indicator of how widespread it has become across retail,” Mr Egan said.
“Victorian retailers are currently being asked to police the vaccine economy and it’s something they’re not equipped to do. Greater support is urgently needed, particularly as we’re about to be flooded with crowds throughout the holiday season.”