Scalping & Legislation

With QLD Premier Peter Beattie announcing last week the intention to bring in anti-scalping legislation in QLD, it poses the question of whether the other states will follow suit.

In 2002 Victoria paved the way for select sporting events to be protected by legislation, which prevents scalped tickets. The Minister for the Commonwealth Games, Sports & Recreation has the power to "declare" an event which can be covered by this legislation. To date only a few events have been "declared" - AFL Grand Final, 2006 Commonwealth Games and the upcoming FINA (Water Sports) World Championships. See a copy of the legislation below:

Link to VIC Legislation

It's a shame that this legislation is restricted to sporting events, and declared ones at that...

The new QLD legislation is a bit broader and covers all events held at Queensland sporting facilities, including live music performances, which is a great step in the right direction. From what I gather from Peter Beattie's press release this also covers the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

It's yet to be seen what other QLD venues this will cover - Gold Coast Parklands,where the 2007 BDO is being held, is a sporting/recreational facility.... However, the event is being run by a NSW promotor. How do they police this one?

What about non-sporting open areas used for music festivals? Woodford Folk Festival comes to mind...

Here is a copy of it so you can judge for yourself:

Link to QLD Legislation
An interesting one to keep an eye on.