Reforms pertaining to Queensland's state retail trading laws have received backing from the National Retail Association (NRA), particularly around the streamlining of trade.
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said the changes would not affect existing trading hours in south east Queensland, and would not introduce Sunday or public holiday trading into regional towns that did not already have it.
The changes will see the state broken into three trading areas, south-east, regional and tourist zones, which will all have common trading hours.
Retail categories are also set to be simplified into two; large business, who must abide by trading hour restrictions and small businesses that are free to operate largely as they wish to.
Lamb said the NRA had put its support behind the laws due to the fact that they offer a simplified and streamlined means of trading in Queensland.
“Importantly though, the proposed new laws would significantly streamline and simplify opening and closing times, and drastically reduce the red tape burden on businesses that trade across various parts of the state.
“These are very sensible reforms that will free up retailers to get on with business and job creation, and they are low-hanging fruit in terms of eradicating red tape.”