New protections against ticket scalping, banning pitch invasions at sporting events and restricting patrons from re-entering venues after being evicted will form part of new major events legislation in the ACT.
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Deputy Chief Minister Andrew Barr said on Thursday the government would introduce legislation in coming months to help Canberra prepare to host major sporting events including cricket World Cup games, Asian Football Cup fixtures and January's Big Bash League cricket final.
The proposed laws are designed to improve venue security, advertising of events, and provide ticket purchasers with increased certainty while bringing laws in the ACT into line with other states and territories.
The changes are also in keeping with agreements required by major event organisers.
''Once passed, [the bill] will help ensure the physical safety of patrons by allowing measures for approved officers to conduct scanning and ordinary searches, allow tighter restrictions regarding re-entry of patrons who have been ejected, and also prohibiting pitch invasions at specific sporting events,'' Mr Barr said.
A Senate report released in March this year found ticket scalping was a growing problem for Australia's major sporting codes, with most experiencing illegal reselling of tickets.
In one instance, three tickets for the AFL Grand Final with a combined face value of about $780 were offered in Melbourne for $3500 – a breach of Victoria's major sporting events laws, passed in 2009.
The report cites numerous examples, including tickets for the Australian Open Tennis Men's Final being resold at $1388.89, a cost more than three times the public sale price.
Ticket for the first day of the Ashes Test in Sydney in January this year were offered for sale online at $350, nearly three times their retail price of $130. Platinum tickets for the 2013 British and Irish Lions Test Matches against the Wallabies in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney sold on online auction sites ebay and viagogo for $999, despite originally costing $295.
Cricket Australia told the inquiry it had identified one scalper involved in the illegal trade when six people tried to access the same one seat for a recent match.
Mr Barr said the new legislation was timely ahead of the major events, with as many as 14,000 fans expected at Manuka Oval for the Big Bash League final on January 28.
Three matches of the cricket World Cup will be held at Manuka in February.
Other reforms announced by Mr Barr as part of the Legislative Assembly program in coming months include a new offence for individuals found to have discarded lit cigarettes, matches and other incandescent materials. Other bills will aim to target environmental degradation in the territory, improve safety for women and children threatened with domestic violence, and protect human rights and privacy as part of the ACT's Human Rights Act.
''Ultimately the new bills and amendments we will introduce are aimed at direct improvements in the workings of government, prosperity across the city and quality of life in our community,'' Mr Barr said.