Noise complaints are reports made by members of the community raising general concerns about the level of noise being generated by a licensed venue. This may include noise from amplified music, other types of entertainment such as karaoke and trivia, patron noise and in some circumstances, anti-social behaviour from patrons when leaving a venue.
Noise complaints may be resolved in a timely and informal manner through education, support and remedial engagement. This provides the venue an opportunity to make positive changes to improve its operation and reduce any noise impact on the neighbourhood.
L&GNSW will not act on every noise complaint it receives. If your complaint does not contain sufficient information or contact details, the matter complained of is more minor in nature or you have not attempted to resolve your concerns with the venue prior to contacting L&GNSW, we will be less likely to take action.
If you are experiencing ongoing noise and disturbance issues with a licensed venue and have not been able to resolve your concerns directly with the venue and have previously reported these matters to L&GNSW, you may lodge a statutory disturbance complaint. Specific requirements must be met prior to a disturbance complaint being lodged and the process may take some months to resolve. Refer to Statutory Disturbance Complaints for more information about this process and the disturbance complaint framework.
Before lodging a noise complaint, it is encouraged that you contact the licensed venue directly to ensure they are aware of the issue and can attempt to address the problem. An informal resolution without outside intervention is the preferred outcome. If you are not comfortable approaching the licensee or venue operator, or if you are not satisfied with the outcome, then you may lodge a noise complaint.
To help L&GNSW understand your concerns, you will need to provide a detailed summary of the noise issues, including the type of disturbance, date and time. Include any actions you took, for example, if you contacted the venue or NSW Police. Record your attempts to engage with the venue to resolve the issues and outline what happened. You may also wish to keep a diary or log of noise issues about each instance of disturbance.
Refer to Resolving Noise and Disturbance Concerns for further information and advice on how you can resolve disturbance issues directly with a licensed venue.
L&GNSW consider a number of different factors and adopt a risk-based compliance approach when assessing noise complaints to determine the most appropriate way to deal with the issues raised. We exercise discretion in determining whether we commit resources to a formal investigation or take other action.
You may submit video or audio files in support of your complaint and to assist with our assessment, but these files will not be used as evidence to support enforcement action.
In assessing noise complaints, we may consider relevant factors such as:
The Noise Complaint fact sheet provides further information on the process and outlines L&GNSW approach in dealing with noise reports.
L&GNSW will consider the best way to deal with the complaint and any action we may take. This may include:
Allocating your complaint to a L&GNSW inspector for investigation. Investigations can take an extended time to complete, however you will be notified of the outcome. However, for privacy reasons, we may not be able to disclose details if enforcement action was taken. When investigating compliance matters, L&GNSW Inspectors use a graduated enforcement approach outlined in the Compliance and Enforcement Policy.
Submit a noise complaint online.
