NSW Government Vibrancy Reform Work Progresses

Opening a Licensed Venue Survey 

The NSW Government is looking at ways to streamline liquor and planning approvals for venues that require a Development Application (DA) and a liquor licence.

To support this, the Government is looking to understand the key issues, opportunities and areas for improvement when opening a new venue or making changes (that would require a development approval) to an existing one in NSW. 

The NSW Government is seeking feedback from individuals who are either considering opening a new venue or making changes to their existing one, in the process of applying for approvals, or have recently received their DA and/or approval for changes to their liquor licence.

To provide feedback, please fill out this survey by Friday, 31 January 2025. 

Cultural State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) Explanation of Intended Effect 

The Cultural SEPP will amend existing state environmental planning policies and local environmental plans to make changes to the planning system to support venues, including clubs, contributing to the 24-hour economy. The draft SEPP can be found here and ClubsNSW will be providing a submission which is due on 7 February 2025.

One of the key matters considered as part of the Cultural SEPP is allowing outdoor live music to an exempt development where it meets certain requirements (including that it must be low impact and not increase the permitted number of patrons). ClubsNSW will strongly advocate for this recommendation to support clubs in providing live music outdoors.

We will also be pushing forward several recommendations relating to planning and licensing that we have already been advocating for with the NSW Government. These include: 

• Simplifying the process for clubs to have outdoor dining on rooftops.
• Streamlining the liquor, gaming and development application process for clubs. 
• Streamlining the ability for clubs to have indoor entertainment as per the Building Code class.

If you have any examples of issues your club has faced with licensing and planning, or have further ideas you would like to considered for our submission, please reach out to Emily Brennan by 20 January 2025 at [email protected].