The highly anticipated review into Sydney’s lockout laws led by former High Court judge Ian Callinan has been unveiled and it’s found what we all already knew – that the lockouts have indeed had a detrimental impact on Sydney’s nightlife.
As News Corp reports, Callinan’s report has made the recommendation that lockout laws be relaxed for venues hosting live entertainment by 30 minutes. It doesn’t sound like much, but it could mean thousands in revenue for Sydney venues.
The report recommends the government, headed by the infamously stubborn Mike Baird, push the 1.30am lockout to 2am and the 3am last call to 3.30am. Callinan also acknowledge the “unquantifiable adverse impact” the laws have had on live entertainment.
However, the report was otherwise in support of the lockout laws. Callinan found that hospital visits due to intoxication and violence had dropped and that claims the lockouts had simply moved violence to other areas of Sydney were largely unfounded.
According to the report, crowds are, on the whole, behaving in much the same way as they did before the lockouts, at least as far as the time they start and stop punting is concerned. But the lockouts have had an impact on pub crawling.
Ultimately, the report suggests the easing of lockout laws for live entertainment venues, for which the report recommends we agree upon a precise definition. For example, a DJ playing recorded music is fine, so long as they are actually mixing and aren’t just playing a Spotify playlist.
Meanwhile, according to data collected by APRA-AMCOS, the Australian royalties collection body, ticket sales by live performance venues in the Sydney CBD have declined by 40 percent following the introduction of the lockout laws.
This, coupled with a reported 80 percent drop in foot traffic in lockout-affected areas, has resulted in the closure of some 42 venues, bars, cafes, nightclubs, and restaurants. Meanwhile, gig attendance overall is down 19 percent.
According to popular Sydney venue World Bar, management are forking out an extra $224,900 per year because of the lockouts. It’s unlikely pushing the lockouts back by half an hour will allow them to recoup these costs unless a major overhaul of the lockouts is enacted.
