Special entertainment precincts

Special entertainment precincts support live entertainment through extended trading hours for live music venues. They provide favourable noise controls that provide operational certainty for venues, neighbouring residents and businesses.

A special entertainment precinct is an area, streetscape or single venue where sound conditions and trading hours are set by a council in a precinct management plan. Councils can establish special entertainment precincts in their local area under the Local Government Act 1993 to encourage more live music and support their night-time economies.

The 24-Hour Economy Legislation Amendment (Vibrancy Reforms) Act 2023 and the 24-Hour Economy Legislation Amendment (Vibrancy Reforms) Act 2024 further supports the special entertainment precinct framework through:

• clearer sound governance: Liquor & Gaming NSW is responsible for managing entertainment sound complaints for licensed venues. Councils set sound standards and manage unlicensed venues
• a trading hour extension for licensed venues, including 2 hours on nights they offer live music, and one hour on other nights
• new powers for councils to set trading hours in a precinct management plan to support diverse late-night offerings which override the trading hours on a development consent
• strengthening organisational arrangements to support safety and collaboration
• helping people to identify if they have purchased a property located in a special entertainment precinct. This will be available through a planning certificate and on a council’s website.

A special entertainment precinct is a defined area where sound and trading hours from licensed and unlicensed premises is managed by a council through a precinct management plan. This lets councils more easily support live music and performance in the precinct.

Councils are responsible for identifying and establishing special entertainment precincts. A council can establish a precinct by amending its Local Environmental Plan (LEP) through a planning proposal and publishing the precinct management plan on their website. A precinct may be a single premises, streetscape or other defined area. In limited circumstances, the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces may amend an LEP through a State Environmental Planning Policy. For more information, visit Making and amending LEPs.

The Local Government Act requires the precinct management plan to set out:

• the trading hours for premises in the precinct
• the regulation of sound from entertainment activities in the precinct
• the process in the Liquor Act 2007 for managing complaints about licensed premises in the precinct.

The Office of the 24-Hour Economy Commissioner has developed resources to assist councils with establishing and managing special entertainment precincts. This includes:

• the mandatory NSW Special Entertainment Precinct Guidelines
• an opt-in Acoustic Toolkit, best practice handbook and model templates. 

Councils can also access a one-to-one support via the Special Entertainment Precinct Support Hub.

A council sets the trading hours and sound criteria framework in the precinct management plan. Existing sound criteria on DAs and liquor licences which are inconsistent with the precinct management plan do not have effect. Conditions on development consents which prohibit live entertainment also do not have effect. Councils continue to regulate sound from unlicensed premises as well as non-entertainment related sound.

Councils must notify residents and people moving into the area about the precinct. This notification must be on the council’s website and a notation on planning certificates for land in the special entertainment precinct.

The Department provides councils with guidance on noise management for licensed venues in Planning Circular PS 24-003 - Noise complaint management at licensed premises (PDF, 99 KB). This circular applies to licensed venues across NSW, including those in special entertainment precincts.