More than 1000 NSW liquor stores, around one third of which are small business owners, will forfeit $3.5 million this Boxing Day due to laws forcing them to close their doors to customers, according to the Liquor Stores Association NSW (LSA NSW).

Members of the LSA NSW are calling on the Parliament to wind back the “unfair” shop trading provisions of the Retail Trading Act 2008 that prohibits them from trading on a day that is one of the biggest of the year.

Michael Waters, executive director of the LSA NSW, said traditionally Boxing Day generated on average $3.5 million in revenue for liquor stores, two and a half times the amount of a regular trading day.

“Due to this nonsense law introduced by the then Labor Government in 2009, thousands of retailers can’t open their doors leaving employees, who have previously had the opportunity to work and earn lucrative penalty rates, with unnecessary hardship,” he said.

“Around 2500 liquor store staff and their families across NSW are unfairly disadvantaged, while their friends, fellow students or colleagues can work at a bar or at a clothing department store and earn double time and a half, liquor store staff have been forced to forgo this opportunity.

“We are currently operating on an uneven playing field, while many packaged liquor retailers are forced to close on Boxing Day, hotel licences are exempt,” said Waters.

“We are encouraged that many Ministers are on the record as saying they would like to see more consistency around the trading day laws. On any objective analysis – including the Premier’s own calculations – the present restriction on Boxing Day trade fail the common sense criteria, and we welcome ongoing dialogue with the members of Parliament to resolve this anomaly in the NSW Legislation.”

LSA NSW has today launched a campaign that highlights their concerns over the trading hour restrictions.

“We believe this issue is important and that is why we have increased our efforts to educate the public on the inconvenience and discrepancies of the Retail Trading Act,” Waters said.