Perth has made history.
All general retail stores in the Perth metropolitan area will be allowed to open from 7am weekdays and Saturdays during the Christmas period.
This is the first time such early trading hours have been allowed in Western Australia.
The extended trading hours will commence on December 5.
They also include an earlier 8am opening on Sundays and later 6pm closing on Saturdays and Sundays.
Shopping hours for Boxing Day, New Year’s Day, and Australia Day have also be extended from 8am to 6pm.
General retail shops will remain closed on Christmas Day.
WA commerce minister Michael Mischin said the added trading hours will allow retailers to compete more effectively with their online counterparts.
“The Government has been at the forefront of retail trading hours’ reform with the introduction of late night weekday and Sunday trading which have proven to be popular with consumers and successful for businesses.
“The emergence of online shopping has made the retail sector highly competitive and we want to ease restrictions on retailers so they can better service their customers’ needs and maximise their sales, especially at Christmas time.”
Mischin said the success of the new hours would be closely monitored.