New laws on live music up for comment

By Tim Lake

Live music will be easier to put on in many venues and alcohol will be able to be sold in many smaller establishments, such as restaurants and bars, under the sweeping changes due in the state’s liquor and entertainment laws.
The changes have entered their final stage with the release of late amendments relating to places of public entertainment licences (POPEs).
Proposed changes to 1981 liquor laws – already passed by the NSW Parliament late last year and contained in the new Liquor Act 2007 ‘ are due to take effect mid-year.
But late amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Bill 2008 which govern POPEs are now up for public comment.
New liquor rules give existing venues protection from vexatious complaints (prior occupancy rights), allow minors onto licensed premises if they are part of a performance, provide a simpler and cheap ‘on-premises liquor licence’ for cinemas, theatres and venues, and will allow restaurants to sell alcohol with food.
They will also provide a simple general bar licence for non-poker machine premises.
The late POPE amendments aim to exempt many restaurants, cafes, hotels and small clubs from the expensive and complex application process needed to stage live entertainment.
Music activist John Wardle, who has helped draft the new POPE laws, said the live music sector in particular welcomed these changes and thanked the Government for its initiative.
‘These changes have extraordinary potential for future small scale entertainment in NSW, made unviable due to previous cost and complexity,’ he said.
Mr Wardle said it was hoped the new POPE rules would be approved quickly and come into force in mid-2008, about the same time as the new Liquor Act starts.
But he said separate and much more controversial provisions of the Environmental Planning Bill to do with building approvals would mean a stormy passage overall through Parliament for this piece of legislation.
Details of the changes can be found on the Planning Department’s website under ‘planning reforms’ at www.planning.nsw.gov.au