News Archive

With debate about WA’s retail trading hours hotting up as the Christmas rush draws near, The University of Western Australia has appointed a researcher to tackle the issue.

After studying women’s involvement with Australian Rules football for her PhD thesis, Dr Deborah Hindley, recently appointed Research Fellow for UWA’s Centre for Advanced Consumer Research, is now taking on the emotive issue of shopping hours.

With the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia pushing for what it calls ‘archaic and restrictive’ hours to be updated and WAFarmers warning that deregulation would increase prices and kill competition, Dr Hindley is carrying out an independent assessment into the legal, social and economic impact of any potential deregulation of trading hours.

But, unlike her football research, during which she immersed herself in the subject, this work will not entail immersion in retail therapy.

Instead, Dr Hindley’s brief is to carry out rigorous and wide-ranging research on retail trading hours to ascertain the benefits or the detriments to the West Australian community.

She is seeking input from interest groups and the general community and can be contacted on (08) 6488 3442 or be email at [email protected]

Media references

Dr Deborah Hindley 61 8 6488 3442

Simone Hewett / Sally-Ann Jones 61 8 6488 7977
(UWA Public Affairs) 0420 790 097 / 0420 790 098