THE agency responsible for ensuring pub and club safety has been labelled a "basket case" after a series of investigations exposed gross mismanagement, unethical practices and constant errors.
Audits within the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing, obtained under Right to Information laws, have raised concerns its liquor licensing division was a "boys club" harbouring "vindictive" officers.
The State Government says it is cracking down and yesterday defended dodgy dealings within the division but industry figures say nothing has changed since independent auditors revealed systemic failures in 2009.
In its 2009 report, auditors Knowledge Consulting said: "The OLGR (Office of Liquor Gaming and Racing) operates in a contentious client and stakeholder environment which contains a potentially volatile mix of commercial vested interests, regulatory bodies, community agencies and individuals who from time to time will be working to different agendas and priorities".
One issue involved a licensee being penalised for paper on the floor and flyscreen missing from a door. In stark contrast, The Courier-Mail revealed the department failed to issue the final disciplinary action to a venue where a man was fatally stabbed.
The negative report sparked several reviews in 2010, which revealed:
• Potentially thousands of wrong fines were issued.
• Private details of Queenslanders, including IDs, left unsecured.
• Missing hotel records and investigations.
• Hundreds of risk management plans left unmonitored.
• A chronic lack of staff and resources.
Several current and former liquor licensing officers, who wish to remain anonymous, this week claimed the problem came from the top because senior managers were the only ones able to enforce disciplinary action, and officers' recommendations were often ignored.
For example, not one Fortitude Valley venue was hit with a disciplinary action decision the toughest penalty for liquor licensing breaches in the past two years to November, despite the region being acknowledged as one of the state's three most dangerous party hot spots (along with Surfers Paradise and Townsville).
Another audit revealed more than one in 10 fines (13 per cent) issued by police were wrong.
Other issues included five boxes of confiscated IDs left unsecured on the Gold Coast and the department's failure to destroy them.
Before his resignation yesterday, former Liquor Licensing Minister Peter Lawlor defended dodgy dealings within the division, but acknowledged reports of "misconduct and suspension of officers".
He took credit for the audits and said many of the issues had been addressed.
"I made it abundantly clear that something needed to be done immediately and that I would not tolerate this continuing," he said this week.
"Significant reform, ongoing change, and restructuring have been, and are being, achieved.
"Liquor Licensing is a different department today to what it was 18 months ago, but there is still more work to be done, and I'm confident it can be further improved over the next 12 months."
But licensees say the department continues to favour the industry's "big powers".
Individuals refused to comment for fear of retribution. The Queensland Hotels Association, Valley Liquor Accord and Brisbane City Licensees Association did not respond to questions.
But Cabarets Queensland chairman Sarosh Mehta acknowledged a "definite need for improvement".
"There has also not been any significant shift in focusing on the individual offenders via stiffer penalties, which I fully support, versus continuing the practice of hammering the licensee," he said.
State Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said the findings painted a picture of a state government agency that had become "an absolute basket case".
"While drunken violent thugs need to take responsibility for their actions, enforcement also needs to be effective," he said.
"If the law is broken, offenders must be punished not protected."
