A growing community initiative prompts increasing compliance concerns
By Sonia Isaacs
A WELL -intentioned grassroots community initiative at the Maleny RSL has become a victim of its own success, rapidly outgrowing its initial ‘pop-up’ community meal service and morphing into a weekly social event.
This evolution has attracted a broad demographic and caused a ‘compliance conundrum’ for the Maleny RSL Sub Branch.
Plans to formalise the agreement between the organisers of the ‘People’s Kitchen’ and the RSL have now led to the initiative being scrapped, prompting an online outcry from the community.
Representatives from Maleny RSL say they are “taken aback and disappointed” at suggestions that the branch has been “mean-spirited” in seeking to cover additional hall usage and public liability costs, particularly at a time when the RSL hall is struggling to attract and retain membership and cover its substantial running costs.
Speaking with GC&M News, Maleny RSL Vice President Craig Barker said the recent success of the ‘People’s Kitchen’ had transformed it from an agreed weekly arrangement to provide free meals to those in need into a ‘bigger than Ben Hur’ BYO social event, triggering a raft of legal liability and compliance issues.
Mr Barker said that in recent months, people had started turning up to the Wednesday afternoon free meal service with their own drinks, breaching the club’s strict liquor licensing agreements. He also noted that the large number of people at recent gatherings, spilling out into the RSL hall and utilising the kitchen, raised safety, public liability, and food safety issues.
“It was originally presented to us as a community support service for those in need, which we were more than happy to assist with,” Mr Barker said.
“Over the last few months, it has expanded into a full-blown Maleny supper club attracting up to 70 people.
“This has presented us with a host of unexpected legal liability issues. We’ve gone from having a handful of people in need to now seeing people turn up in their Range Rovers and BMWs to enjoy a free feed and social night out.”
Mr Barker said the Maleny RSL Sub Branch had been fully supportive and happy to offer free use of the verandah, hall, and kitchen for the initial concept.
However, due to the expanded size and scope and revision of the initially pitched activity, the RSL had recently sought to formalise the arrangement.
Mr Barker said while the RSL welcomed the idea of the community coming together, they still needed to ensure safety and compliance and therefore had requested the People’s Kitchen take out a two-hour hall hire agreement for the increasingly popular weekly event.
“We thought it was a reasonable proposition, and thought given the current level of commercial sponsorship the approximately $100 costs could be easily covered,” said Mr Barker. “We weren’t asking for an exorbitant fee.”
The ‘People’s Kitchen’ was initially launched in September 2023. Organisers were approached for comment.