09/12/2024
๐๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐-๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ญ!
๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ง๐ค๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฑ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ก๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค ๐จ๐ง ๐ฌ๐จ๐ฆ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ค๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ!
๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ง
๐๐๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ
A LASER tag business owner has accused the Department of Education of unfairly damaging his business by banning students from participating in games at his venue.
Laser Tag Tasmania owner Jonathon Simonetis said a 2019 departmental policy effectively blocked school groups from laser tag on safety grounds.
The policy was later changed to exclude laser tag on the grounds it promoted battle and violence.
โTheyโre trying to advocate that laser tag is still allowed if they use a device which looks like a glove,โ Mr Simonetis said.
โHowever, there are no such devices in Tasmania.โ
According to a Department of Education policy document obtained by Mr Simonetis under Right to Information law, laser tag is โunsuitable and not an optionโ for school off-campus activities.
School activities featuring laser tag would only be permitted if the game featured
โdevices that are designed like a glove or similar, rather than a simulated weaponโ.
Under the policy, the laser tag games must emphasise โteamwork and physical activity, not combat and battleโ.
Mr Simonetis said the policy is unfair because it effectively bans student groups from his business, but allows them to take part in what he claimed were more dangerous and violence-promoting activities, such as archery tag.
โThe reason for the ban is apparently that weโre aggressive and violent.
โ[But] I found that for the last few years that schools have been participating in archery tag, which is actually shooting a projectile-based bow with a foam tip on it.โ
He said the 2019 policy caused significant damage to his business.
โIt was quite a big part of our business, probably a good third of our business income was generated from weekday school bookings,โ he said.
As a result, he is now restructuring his business to help it survive.
โItโs made it financially challenging. Itโs no longer viable for us to operate a fixed location without that weekday business.โ
Laser tag is a sporting activity in which participants wear special sensors and target each other using infrared light guns that activate the sensors when a โhitโ is detected.
Braddon MHA Miriam Beswick, who said she previously owned a laser tag business with her husband, has offered her support in parliament to Mr Simonetis.
โA decision has been made, and there doesnโt seem to have been much consideration about the effects,โ she said.
โIโm quite concerned about educational policies in the way they seem to blanket or just change their mind, not consult well, and just assume how parents feel about things. Iโd like to see the Education Department take a more consultative approach, considering how when they make decisions how that affects other people, like business owners.โ
Tasmanian Liberals
Miriam Beswick MP
Josh Garvin for Franklin
Tasmanian Labor
Tasmanian Young Liberals
Craig Garland Independent for Braddon
David O'Byrne MP
The Examiner Newspaper, Launceston
ABC Northern Tasmania
ABC Hobart
Triple M Hobart
Tas Laser Skirmish
Tasmanian Small Business Council
Tasmanian Association of State School Organisations - TASSO
Pulse Tasmania
