The South Australian government has ordered a review of the state's shop trading hours as it prepares deregulation legislation.
Treasurer Rob Lucas says SafeWork SA has been asked to prepare a report on "anomalies and absurdities" in the current trading laws.
He says it will also look at claims that some traders are regularly breaching existing regulations.
"This report will be critical in the preparation of legislation for parliamentary debate on reforms to provide greater freedom of choice for SA families to shop," Mr Lucas said on Tuesday.
Regulations for trading vary depending on a shop's floor space, location and whether they are considered specialty stores.
Among the issues to be considered are:
* Whether stores are reducing their floor space by erecting curtains or boxes to allow them to trade on public holidays;
* Why some stores have to erect roller doors inside their stores because they are now allowed to sell certain items on public holidays;
* Whether 24-hour service stations are complying with restrictions on their trading rules; and
* Why some small supermarkets can't trade after 5pm on weekends when nearby services stations can.
"There are so many anomalies and absurdities in our antiquated shop trading laws that will only be resolved by parliament supporting the government's comprehensive reform proposal," Mr Lucas said.
The government's proposed deregulation measures were a key promise ahead of the March state election.
But the changes face a tough time getting through parliament's upper house, with Labor, the Greens and SA-BEST MPs likely to oppose them.
