Victoria’s Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has a new guide designed to help separate reasonable noise from excessive sound levels.
EPA’s new Entertainment Venue and Outdoor Event Music Noise Guidelines explain the laws, the limits and how late you can keep the tunes blasting.
EPA chief executive Lee Miezis said the new guidelines are part of EPA’s simplified permits for music events.
“We’ve been talking to the music and events industry and removed the need for multiple permits for events that run for several days,” he said.
“We recognise paperwork doesn’t reduce noise, so we redesigned the permit process to take the complications out while keeping in protections for the public and environment.”
The new guidelines work alongside the revamped Environment Protection Act 2017, which took effect in 2021 and changed the way noise emissions are assessed and managed.
The legislation sets more sensible expectations for Victoria’s live music industry, including protection for long established venues in changing urban areas and easier ways for operators to measure noise.
As well as applying a limit to noise, EPA can assess whether it is unreasonable, based on how far the noise spreads, how loud it is, how long it lasts, its character and the time and place it occurs.
