Ink dries on law to outlaw bikies in tattoo parlours Police are cracking down on the State's tattoo parlours as the industry faces a major overhaul ORGANISED criminals will be booted out of the tattoo business, starting today. All tattoo shop owners and their staff now must apply for a three-year licence from NSW Police and Fair Trading. Police Minister Michael Gallacher said anyone with criminal associations would be denied a licence, and would be fined if they continued to operate. It is about cleaning up that industry. It is about recognising that for far too long the tattoo industry has been a feeding ground, a rich ground for outlaw motorcycle gangs," he said. Licences will cost $700 for tattooists, and more than $2000 for operators of a tattoo parlour. After October 1, every corporation operating a tattoo parlour without a licence will be fined $11,000 a day. Individual owners face fines of $5500 a day, and tattoo artists will receive a one-off fine of $5000. All workers in tattoo shops will be fingerprinted and their associations scrutinised by NSW Police. Acting Police Commissioner Nick Kaldas said a third of the estimated 300 tattoo parlours in NSW were "influenced or directly controlled" by motorcycle gangs. A common problem for police was parlours were commonly operated by "cleanskins"' - with no known criminal record - but behind the scenes they were run by members of, or associates of, outlaw motorcycle gangs.