tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/lockout-laws-26282/articleslockout laws – The Conversation2020-12-07T19:06:54Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1514722020-12-07T19:06:54Z2020-12-07T19:06:54ZCaring for 66,455 revellers at risk delivers $7.5m harm-reduction benefit for Sydney<p>Our time of social isolation under COVID-19 restrictions has reinforced the importance of taking care of each other, particularly the most vulnerable in our community. As we consider what our post-COVID social world will look like, we have an opportunity to deliver services that make our cities safer and more inclusive. An example of how we might achieve this can be found in a Sydney harm-reduction service that has assisted tens of thousands of nightlife revellers who are vulnerable, in distress or at risk of harm since 2014. </p>
<p>A newly released <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/evaluation-take-kare-safe-space-program">evaluation</a> conservatively estimates the benefits of the <a href="http://thomaskellyyouthfoundation.org.au/take-kare-safe-space">Take Kare Safe Space</a> (TKSS) program from December 2014 to April 2019 at A$7.46 million. That benefit includes the value of serious harm averted and the value attached to lives saved through program interventions.</p>
<p>While it may have been less prominent in our public and political consciousness this year, nightlife, and the way we socialise after dark, is a major part of our social and cultural life. It will return. </p>
<p>In Sydney, where trading restrictions – the so-called <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-s-lock-out-laws-to-be-wound-back-from-january-14-20191128-p53eyh.html">lockout laws</a> – were lifted in January following five years of controversy, we need to do nightlife better. We need to find the balance between safety and vibrancy. The city is a great place to go out, but also a place where we need to provide the right services for when things inevitably go wrong.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-are-they-now-what-public-transport-data-reveal-about-lockout-laws-and-nightlife-patronage-73521">Where are they now? What public transport data reveal about lockout laws and nightlife patronage</a>
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<h2>One part of the solution</h2>
<p>The TKSS program has been doing this throughout the lockout period in Sydney. Now operated by Stay Kind, the TKSS program was launched in 2014 following the unprovoked attack and subsequent <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/kieran-loveridge-sentence-for-killing-of-thomas-kelly-doubled-on-appeal-20140704-zsvk2.html">death of Thomas Kelly</a> in Kings Cross in 2012.</p>
<p>Operating year-round from 10pm to 4am on Friday and Saturday nights, it’s a non-judgmental, non-government, harm-reduction service. The program looks after nightlife revellers who are vulnerable, in distress or at risk of harm.</p>
<p>Teams of Take Kare ambassadors work in co-operation with the City of Sydney’s CCTV control room and other nightlife services to patrol key precincts, acting as critical intermediaries between emergency services. </p>
<p>During the evaluation, TKSS operated three static safe spaces at Town Hall, Kings Cross and Darling Harbour. Here, nightlife revellers can go to chill out, get help, charge their phones, or receive basic first aid.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aUMQLVHCbkM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2019 Current Affair report on Sydney’s Take Kare Safe Spaces.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Between December 2014 and April 2019, TKSS supported 66,455 people. Two-thirds of them were aged 18-25. Many (46%) were perceived as heavily intoxicated and at risk of harm.</p>
<h2>What is the evidence? Does it work?</h2>
<p>Researchers from UNSW Sydney and Central Queensland University recently completed a comprehensive independent <a href="https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/evaluation-take-kare-safe-space-program">evaluation</a> of the TKSS program. Funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, the evaluation team analysed crime, emergency department and ambulance data to establish the benefit-cost ratio of the program. We also interviewed key stakeholders and “clients” about their perceptions of the program.</p>
<p>From December 2014 to April 2019 (inclusive), the benefits were estimated at $7.46 million. With operating costs of $2.79 million, the benefit-cost ratio was 2.67:1. In other words, a $1 investment in the program resulted in $2.67 of benefits. When the TKSS program was fully operational in all three safe space sites (in 2016-17), the benefit-cost ratio increased to 3.83:1.</p>
<p>These results are conservative. The return on investment is likely to be much higher given the analysis does not quantify the full spectrum of benefits associated with the program. These include: improved public safety and amenity; more efficient resource allocation for service providers; improved partnership, communication and resourcing to manage Sydney nightlife; and flow-on effects for tourism and investment.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sanitised-nightlife-precincts-become-places-where-some-are-not-welcome-95870">'Sanitised' nightlife precincts become places where some are not welcome</a>
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<h2>What are the strengths of TKSS?</h2>
<p>These non-quantifiable benefits featured strongly in interviews with stakeholders. They included staff from NSW Police and Ambulance, St Vincent’s Emergency Department, City of Sydney, licensed venues and those who used the service. They highlighted a number of key program strengths, including:</p>
<p><strong>1.</strong> the program fills a critical gap in nightlife safety – TKSS staff act as intermediaries between licensed premises and emergency services by providing services in public city spaces where people are most vulnerable – and it’s also easy to deploy in different locations as needed</p>
<p><strong>2.</strong> the non-judgmental, non-authoritative nature of the program meant intoxicated, vulnerable and distressed nightlife patrons were more comfortable speaking with TKSS ambassadors than other services – such as police, ambulance, venue security or city rangers – and this rapport helped encourage at-risk patrons to willingly get medical help when needed</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fewer-alcohol-related-visits-to-inner-sydney-emergency-room-since-lockout-laws-introduced-92343">Fewer alcohol-related visits to inner Sydney emergency room since 'lockout laws' introduced</a>
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<p><strong>3.</strong> police, ambulance and accident and emergency staff said the TKSS program allowed them to focus on more urgent and pressing jobs</p>
<p><strong>4.</strong> the ambassadors are able to de-escalate conflict and provide welfare services through their early, proactive and non-judgmental interventions.</p>
<p>The evaluation shows the TKSS program provides a critical harm-reduction service in Sydney after dark. Its net economic benefit to the city is greatest when the full complement of Safe Spaces are operating and supported by sustained and stable funding. There is a clear case that the program should be part of the long-term future planning of a safe, inclusive and vibrant night-time economy.</p>
<p><em>Note: The TKSS program was suspended in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and is due to re-open in January 2021.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151472/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Wadds was one of the academic team who undertook the evaluation of Safe Spaces. That evaluation was funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice. He does not currently receive any other external research funding. Since 2018, Phillip has been a member of the City of Sydney's Nightlife and Creative Sector Advisory Panel. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anthony Shakeshaft was one of the academic team who undertook the evaluation of Safe Spaces. That evaluation was funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice.</span></em></p>Amid the controversy over Sydney’s lockout laws, a program that looked out for people at risk of harm in the city’s nightlife precincts more than proved its worth.Phillip Wadds, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, UNSW SydneyAnthony Shakeshaft, Professor and Deputy Director at National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW SydneyChristopher Doran, Professor of Health Research Economics, University of NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1252272019-10-29T19:24:00Z2019-10-29T19:24:00ZSydney lockout laws review highlights vital role of transparent data analysis<p>The New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) <a href="https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_media_releases/2019/mr-Impact-lockouts-on-the-CBD.aspx">recently claimed</a> Sydney’s alcohol licensing regulations, commonly known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/lockout-laws-26282">lockout laws</a>, reduced non-domestic assaults by 13% in the CBD. Its calculation relied on a decision to allocate 1,837 of these offences to both Kings Cross and the CBD – that is, double-counting the data. <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/submissions/63631/Submission%20734%20-%20Centre%20for%20Translational%20Data%20Science,%20University%20of%20Sydney.pdf">Our analysis</a> found this decision was critical to the conclusion that assaults decreased in the CBD. For every other choice about the areas to which offences data were allocated and type of analysis we found no decrease. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298452/original/file-20191024-119433-7qnb4k.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Map of Sydney and the entertainment precincts as used by BOCSAR in its analysis: blue – CBD entertainment precinct; red – Kings Cross entertainment precinct; green – nearby displacement areas; yellow – outer displacement areas.</span>
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<p><a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/submissions/63631/Submission%20734%20-%20Centre%20for%20Translational%20Data%20Science,%20University%20of%20Sydney.pdf%5D">Our findings</a> highlight an important question: how do the choices of data collection, pre-processing and analysis affect policy decisions?</p>
<p>The allocation of crimes to areas is just one of several choices made when using data to assess policy impacts. Other choices include how to measure violent crime, what time period to consider and the geographical extent of the areas to include. The question is: if other choices were made, would the results affect a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-08/sydney-lockout-laws-rolled-back/11489806">decision to repeal or continue the laws</a>? </p>
<p>Our findings point to the need to follow a couple of principles when using data to inform policymaking. First, the institution that collects data and the institution that analyses the data should be independent of each other. Second,
we need as much transparency about the data and its analysis as possible.</p>
<h2>So what exactly did the analyses show?</h2>
<p>BOCSAR chose to use monthly non-domestic assaults from 2009 onwards. There is nothing wrong with these choices, but others could have been made.</p>
<p>For instance, why from 2009 onwards, not from 2005? Why monthly, not daily? Why reported non-domestic assaults, not reported assaults causing grievous bodily harm? Why divide the area into the CBD and Kings Cross only? </p>
<p>One way of assessing the impact of such choices is to use different subsets of data, different types of data pre-processing and different statistical and/or machine-learning techniques. If the conclusion still remains the same, then our decision is robust to this source of variability. If not, we need to understand why.</p>
<p>For the Kings Cross precinct, the analysis by the Centre for Translational Data Science at the University of Sydney showed the conclusion remained unchanged irrespective of the frequency and period over which data were collected and the analysis performed. Non-domestic assaults had declined following the introduction of the lockout laws in 2014.</p>
<p>For the CBD the reverse was true. Only if we make exactly the same choices as BOCSAR, in particular allocating 1,837 crimes to both the CBD and King Cross, could we conclude non-domestic assaults had decreased very slightly. </p>
<p>Under all other variations of the analyses, including data, methodology and spatial allocation of that data, we found no decrease. Non-domestic assaults in the CBD had been decreasing since 2008 and, if anything, more slowly after the lockout laws took effect. </p>
<p>So why was the inclusion of 1,837 crimes so critical to the conclusions about the CBD? </p>
<p>Using data provided by BOCSAR, we plotted the most likely location of those 1,837 crimes. Figure 1 shows these crimes occurred mainly in Kings Cross, an area in which the crime rate had fallen since 2014. We say “most likely location” because we have yet to receive the additional data we requested from BOCSAR to help us locate exactly where these crimes occurred.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=588&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298427/original/file-20191023-119429-qgf5xh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=739&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Counts of crimes (per SA1 region) that were assigned to both the CBD and Kings Cross.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Centre for Translational Data Science</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>With the removal of those 1,837 crimes from the CBD, we detected no decrease in non-domestic assaults. But BOCSAR apparently did. After removing those crimes from the CBD, BOCSAR released an <a href="https://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/BB/2019-Report-Effect-of-lockout-and-last-drinks-laws-on-assaults-BB142.pdf">updated report</a> to a <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/listofcommittees/Pages/committee-details.aspx?pk=260">parliamentary inquiry into Sydney’s night-time economy</a>. This report claimed assaults in the CBD decreased by 4% (much less than the original 13%). </p>
<p>The committee then asked for our <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/other/12591/Centre%20for%20Translational%20Data%20Science.pdf">comments</a>. We found the report did not provide a confidence interval for this decrease. Yet the report made a virtue of reporting uncertainty estimates for other quantities and elsewhere it claimed “statistically significant” results. </p>
<p>We replicated BOCSAR’s analysis and found the change in crime could have been as low as a 12% decrease and as high as a 6% increase. In other words, the result is “statistically insignificant”. </p>
<h2>What are the implications for making policy?</h2>
<p>Why does this matter? There are two reasons. </p>
<p>First, the danger in not explaining, quantifying and reporting uncertainty is that the public loses trust in data-driven policymaking. Only if conclusions acknowledge and explain the uncertainty inherent in inferring complex quantities from data can we make robust and explainable policy decisions that build trust with the public. </p>
<p>Second, if we don’t accept and report uncertainty we could stop looking for other explanations. We might then fail to achieve an outcome that everyone wants: a reduction in violence and a healthy night-time economy.</p>
<p>How do we proceed from here? We’d make two recommendations: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The institution that collects and curates the data should be distinct, informed but independent from the institution/s that analyse the data. </p></li>
<li><p>There should be as much data transparency as possible, which would enable different groups to perform different types of analyses, using different sources of data. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>We are almost certain these different groups would produce different findings, but the subsequent discussion could provide insights that move us closer to more robust and acceptable policy decisions. </p>
<p>To <a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/08/27/richard-feynman-on-the-role-of-scientific-culture-in-modern-society/">quote</a> Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives … to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/inquiries/2519/Report%20-%20Sydneys%20night%20time%20economy.pdf">parliamentary committee’s recommendation</a> that BOCSAR and the Centre for Translational Data Science work together more closely appears to do just that. We look forward to an ongoing collaboration to further our understanding of the drivers of violent crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125227/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The collection and analysis of data used for making policy should be independent and open to ensure public trust in decision-making. The debate over alcohol licensing shows why this matters.Sally Cripps, Professor of Statistics, Director of Centre for Translational Data Science, University of SydneyRoman Marchant, Senior research fellow and lecturer, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1211172019-08-14T19:58:44Z2019-08-14T19:58:44ZTighter alcohol licensing hasn’t killed live music, but it’s harder for emerging artists<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287327/original/file-20190808-144862-49ovmf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fortitude Valley is unique in Australia for its concentration of live music venues, like The Valley Drive In, in one small neighbourhood.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.facebook.com/thevalleydrivein/">The Valley Drive In/Facebook</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the fourth in a <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/quantem-74665">series of articles</a> discussing a <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/7/26/evaluation-of-measures-to-tackle-alcoholfuelled-violence">recently released</a> <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2019/5619T1074.pdf">comprehensive evaluation</a> of the Queensland government’s <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/asmade/act-2016-004#">2016 policy reforms to tackle alcohol-fuelled violence</a> and the implications for liquor regulation and the night-time economy in Queensland and Australia. A <a href="http://quantem.info/">summary report</a> is also available.</em></p>
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<p>The effect on live music of changes to trading conditions in nightlife precincts <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-lockouts-sydney-needs-to-become-a-more-inclusive-city-55821">generates heated debate</a>. That’s because live music matters. It is a unique and important part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-melbourne-the-music-capital-of-australia-sydney-or-adelaide-might-pip-it-to-the-post-77087">late-night rhythm and culture of the city</a>.</p>
<p>In both <a href="https://theconversation.com/melbourne-music-week-rocks-but-dont-take-the-feedback-for-granted-19147">Melbourne</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lockout-laws-repeat-centuries-old-mistake-of-denying-value-of-cities-as-messy-places-58281">Sydney</a>, we’ve seen sustained debate about how urban development and regulation of licensed venues affect opportunities for live performance.</p>
<p>Contrary to some of the claims made in these debates, our evaluation of the Queensland government’s <a href="http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2019/7/26/evaluation-of-measures-to-tackle-alcoholfuelled-violence">tightening of liquor licensing restrictions in 2016</a> suggests no change to the number of venues or impact on the overall trend of an increase in live music performances. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-queensland-on-alcohol-violence-and-the-night-time-economy-121114">Lessons from Queensland on alcohol, violence and the night-time economy</a>
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<p>But staging smaller shows by emerging artists has become more difficult because of the costs of new security requirements. The viability of the venues depends on selling alcohol. As a result, many venues depend on alcohol sales in late-night trade when they convert to being a bar or club with DJs.</p>
<h2>What happened in Fortitude Valley?</h2>
<p>In July 2016, the Queensland government <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-queensland-on-alcohol-violence-and-the-night-time-economy-121114">changed laws</a> affecting designated safe night precincts like Fortitude Valley in Brisbane. This included serving last drinks at 3am and mandatory ID scanning in venues trading after midnight.</p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableOffice/TabledPapers/2019/5619T1074.pdf">monitored what impact these changes to trading conditions might have on live music</a> in Fortitude Valley.</p>
<p>The Valley is unique in Australia for its concentration of live music venues in one small neighbourhood and the early development of <a href="https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-and-building/planning-guidelines-and-tools/other-plans-and-projects/valley-special-entertainment-precinct/valley-music-harmony-plan">policy </a> to protect and foster live music in the area. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-live-music-scene-needs-a-live-music-policy-20140">A live music scene needs a live music policy</a>
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<p>The Valley has two overlapping precincts. The special entertainment precinct was created in 2006 to provide regulatory certainty for live music venues. The safe night precinct is the area subject to the 2016 <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/asmade/act-2016-004#">Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence legislation</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286840/original/file-20190805-117871-6cnkl2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Map of the special entertainment precinct (red) and safe night precinct (blue) boundaries in Fortitude Valley. MPC = Monthly Percentage Change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Live music venues in the Valley compete with large clubs and pubs for space. They are subject to the regulatory and compliance frameworks introduced to contain harms in the precinct. As a result, they are having to rethink how they maintain their distinctive music scenes in rapidly changing neighbourhoods.</p>
<h2>Have live music venue numbers changed?</h2>
<p>Despite its cultural and economic importance of original live music venues, their numbers and performances are not systematically and independently monitored in Australia. Music industry bodies could work with performers and venues to publish independent and reliable information about the number and type of venues and gigs over time.</p>
<p>Music rights licensing organisation <a href="http://apraamcos.com.au/">APRA/AMCOS</a> asks live music performers to submit performance returns that document all their live performances. Our analysis of this data shows live music performances in The Valley have been trending upward since 2001. Our evaluation suggests the Tackling Alcohol-Fuelled Violence policy measures had no impact on this trend. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/286842/original/file-20190805-117910-1szi7jw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The number of live music performances per month in Fortitude Valley between the 2001 and 2018 financial years. MPC refers to Monthly Percentage Change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>This APRA/AMCOS performance data, however, cover everything from cover bands, DJs and ambient music in restaurants and bars to original live music performances in small venues through to stadium rock shows.</p>
<p>We also used a combination of precinct walk-throughs (where we observed original live music venues trading on Saturday nights), street press and social media. We found the number of original live music venues in the Valley has not changed since last drinks and ID scanner regulations were introduced in 2016. While original live music venues come and go, change owners and change names, the overall number in the area has been stable for much of the past 15 years.</p>
<h2>Live music is dependent on late-night trade</h2>
<p>While the trading pattern of venues on Saturday nights has not changed, in interviews we conducted venue owners and managers reported various ways they subsidised or supplemented the income from live music.</p>
<p>Nearly all original live music venues only generate income from bar sales. Proceeds from tickets and the door go to production costs and the musicians. The viability of the venues depends on selling alcohol before, during and after performances.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/queenslanders-are-among-our-heaviest-drinkers-on-nights-out-and-changing-that-culture-is-a-challenge-121115">Queenslanders are among our heaviest drinkers on nights out, and changing that culture is a challenge</a>
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<p>Some venues used profit generated on large weekend shows to subsidise smaller local weeknight shows. These shows matter because they provide opportunities for emerging artists to hone their craft and are part of the distinctive cultural fabric of the city.</p>
<p>However, venue owners indicated that staging these smaller shows has become more difficult because of the prohibitive cost of employing security to operate the mandatory ID scanners. This illustrates how, according to venue owners, efforts to contain harm in the nightlife economy can have unintended damaging effects on cultural scenes.</p>
<p>The majority of venues that support original live music in the precinct are less than ten years old. Many seem well adapted to the commercialised late-night precinct because they combine live music with late-night trade. They put on a show early in the evening and then by midnight convert to a late-night bar or club with DJs.</p>
<p>Some of these venues claimed they would not be commercially viable if they only put on original live music before midnight and then closed. Others indicated live music enabled them to generate revenue earlier in the evening - before a clubbing crowd comes in.</p>
<h2>A policy dilemma</h2>
<p>This kind of adaptation is what you’d expect to see in a market as it reacts to changes in both consumer culture and policy. But it raises thorny questions for cultural and public health policy.</p>
<p>From a public health perspective we might be concerned about original live music becoming dependent on late-night trade and mass alcohol consumption in nightlife precincts. From a cultural policy perspective the ingenuity of venues using the earlier hours of an evening to stage original live music is something to encourage.</p>
<p>The Valley has a unique concentration of live music venues, and cultural policy has played a role in fostering and sustaining this vibrant cultural scene. In one sense that’s a success story the city should celebrate and look to capitalise on alongside the effort to reduce harms in nightlife precincts. But, in another sense, a critical issue is that the effort to both maintain cultural vibrancy and reduce harms is potentially thwarted by venues shifting to a homogenous late-night clubbing model.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121117/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas Carah's research has been funded by Queensland state government. He is affiliated with the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education as a non-executive director. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Ferris receives funding from from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, grants from State (Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland) and Federal Governments, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, University of Queensland, National Institute of Health, Global Drug Survey. He is affiliated with the Global Drug Survey and the Queensland Mental Health Commission.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lachlan Goold and Scott Regan do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The good news is that the growth of live music continued under Queensland’s liquor licensing reforms. The bad news is that venues rely on late-night alcohol sales to cover costs.Nicholas Carah, Senior Lecturer in Communication, The University of QueenslandJason Ferris, Associate Professor, Program Leader for Research and Statistical Support Service and Program Leader for Substance Use and Mental Health, Centre for Health Services Research, The University of QueenslandLachlan Goold, Head of Audio Engineering and Sound Production (Brisbane), JMC AcademyScott Regan, Lecturer in Music and Sound, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/958702018-05-09T20:18:10Z2018-05-09T20:18:10Z‘Sanitised’ nightlife precincts become places where some are not welcome<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/217386/original/file-20180503-83693-1exiqj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Keeping up appearances at the Gold Bar in Subiaco, Perth. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul j. Maginn</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This is the seventh article in our series, <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/cities-for-everyone-53005">Cities for Everyone</a>, which explores how members of different communities experience and shape our cities, and how we can create better public spaces for everyone.</em></p>
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<p>Nightlife precincts in Australian cities have come under intense scrutiny in recent years following a spate of “one punch” assaults and other incidents. Places like Sydney’s Kings Cross, Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley and Perth’s Northbridge have been framed as unsafe and unruly “problem spaces” – the kind of places that parents warn their teenage children to avoid.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lockout-laws-repeat-centuries-old-mistake-of-denying-value-of-cities-as-messy-places-58281">Lockout laws repeat centuries-old mistake of denying value of cities as messy places</a>
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<p>Simultaneously, local politicians, urban planners and other policymakers have been <a href="http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/towards-2030/business-and-economy/sydney-at-night/night-time-economy">spruiking</a> the importance of the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-27/24-hour-cities-why-planners-taking-night-time-economy-seriously/8472062">night-time economy</a> to a city’s image and growth. A “vibrant” nightlife is seen as essential for attracting tourism and investment and creating jobs. If a city can get itself on some kind of “<a href="https://www.timeout.com/london/citylifeindex/best-most-exciting-cities-in-the-world-2018">Most Exciting Cities in the World</a>” list, this becomes a crucial part of its city boosterism strategy.</p>
<p>The championing and criticism of nightlife spaces create something of a paradox. On the one hand, the promotion of vibrant nightlife spaces may be seen as an invitation to people to revel and consume. It’s thought that failing to attract enough people to these spaces spells economic disaster for venue operators and for the city itself. </p>
<p>On the other hand, violence and fear discourage or exclude people from participating in nightlife. And labelling nightlife precincts as disorderly or “out of control” stigmatises these spaces and revellers, leading to more exclusion.</p>
<p>The policy challenge is to establish the right amount and types of regulation so that nightlife spaces allow for mild transgression in a safe environment.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-lockouts-sydney-needs-to-become-a-more-inclusive-city-55821">Beyond lockouts: Sydney needs to become a more inclusive city</a>
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<h2>When security excludes</h2>
<p>Part of the response to these issues has been tighter regulation and security in nightlife spaces. “Lockout laws” were <a href="https://www.keepsydneyopen.com/#about">controversially</a> introduced in parts of Sydney, following the example set in <a href="https://www.theherald.com.au/story/5070979/newcastles-lockout-laws-to-be-reviewed-nearly-a-decade-after-the-newcastle-solution/">Newcastle</a> and in trials in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane. These laws wound back the operating hours of licensed venues in popular night-time precincts. </p>
<p>Other responses from governments and private operators have included expanding CCTV surveillance, introducing ID scanners at venue entrances, increasing police and private security presence, and slowing or suspending the issuing of new liquor licenses.</p>
<p>These measures are intended to make people safer and to make them <em>feel</em> safer, to reduce the exclusionary effect of fear. Ironically, these hyper-visible forms of security can in fact make people <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-create-safer-cities-for-everyone-we-need-to-avoid-security-that-threatens-93421">feel more unsafe</a>. </p>
<p>These regulatory interventions are more than just about tackling violence and threatening behaviour. Ultimately, they are about imposing particular ideas of social and moral order not only within nightlife spaces but the city more broadly.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/suburbanising-the-centre-the-baird-governments-anti-urban-agenda-for-sydney-55754">Suburbanising the centre: the Baird government's anti-urban agenda for Sydney</a>
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<h2>Gentrifying the night</h2>
<p>Alongside the expansion of hyper-visible security, major public and private investment has flowed into nightlife precincts and surrounding areas over the last decade or so. </p>
<p>In Perth, as we have <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08111146.2018.1460266">recently outlined</a>, the impacts couldn’t be clearer. Four major redevelopment projects – <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/new-northbridge">New Northbridge</a>, <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/perth-cultural-centre">Perth Cultural Centre</a>, <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/perth-city-link">Perth City Link</a> and <a href="https://www.mra.wa.gov.au/projects-and-places/yagan-square">Yagan Square</a> – have drastically reshaped the built form and sense of place within the inner city. </p>
<p>These developments have “<a href="https://www.pressreader.com/australia/the-west-australian/20170204/281706909414863">changed the face</a>” of Northbridge, which has been gradually gentrifying. The rapid rise in the number of small boutique bars, high-end restaurants and apartments is evidence of this.</p>
<p>The gentrification of Northbridge and other nightlife precincts across metropolitan Australia – whether through new “sophisticated” venues replacing older downmarket ones, or through <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-08-31/sydney-kings-cross-changing-amid-gentification-and-lockout-laws/7801502">residential development</a> displacing nightlife altogether – is not a recipe for less exclusionary spaces. Rather, these developments produce a different kind of exclusion due to two factors. </p>
<p>First, certain groups may be priced out of more upmarket venues offering an “exclusive” or “sophisticated” experience. Second, these venues and the types of customers they attract can make other individuals and groups feel out of place. If they don’t fit the written and unwritten admission criteria they may be denied entry altogether.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/factcheck-did-the-northbridge-wa-curfew-see-a-dramatic-drop-in-crime-87016">FactCheck: did the Northbridge WA curfew see a 'dramatic drop' in crime?</a>
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<h2>Making space for transgression</h2>
<p>In reshaping the moral geography of nightlife precincts, securitisation and gentrification are suppressing one of the fundamental appeals of nightlife – the opportunity for behaviour that transgresses social, cultural and even legal codes. </p>
<p>Participating in nightlife spaces in cities has been a way to briefly escape the often mundane orderliness of everyday home and work life. Nightlife spaces have historically been important for minority, subcultural and countercultural groups – <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-city-gaybourhoods-where-they-come-from-and-why-they-still-matter-93956">LGBTGI communities</a>, minority ethnic groups, punks, goths, <a href="https://www.routledge.com/SubUrban-Sexscapes-Geographies-and-Regulation-of-the-Sex-Industry/Maginn-Steinmetz/p/book/9780415855280">fetishists</a> and so on – to socialise and to express their individual and collective identities.</p>
<p>The increasingly expensive cost and overbearing regulatory regimes governing nightlife seem designed to attract the “right type” of people and to make them feel safer. </p>
<p>The risk of all this is that we might be sleepwalking into the creation of sanitised and yet more homogenous and exclusionary nightlife spaces.</p>
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<p><em>You can find the other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/cities-for-everyone-53005">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alistair Sisson receives funding from an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul J. Maginn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ultimately, most regulatory interventions in nightlife precincts are about imposing particular ideas of social and moral order not only within these spaces but also in the city more broadly.Alistair Sisson, PhD Candidate, Urban Geography, University of SydneyPaul J. Maginn, Associate Professor of Urban/Regional Planning, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/923432018-02-25T19:18:55Z2018-02-25T19:18:55ZFewer alcohol-related visits to inner Sydney emergency room since ‘lockout laws’ introduced<p>The emergency room at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital has seen a 10% reduction in the incidence of fractures that are often caused by a punch to the face over the two years since the so-called “lockout laws” were introduced. </p>
<p>Published in the <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2018/208/4/fewer-orbital-fractures-treated-st-vincents-hospital-after-lockout-laws?utm_source=carousel&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=homepage">Medical Journal of Australia</a> (MJA), the results indicate alcohol restrictions in inner Sydney have effectively reduced numbers of violent alcohol-related injuries.</p>
<p>The controversial 2014 NSW Liquor Amendment Act aimed to reduce alcohol-related violence by restricting access to alcohol in Sydney’s Kings Cross and the CBD entertainment precinct. The changes involved stopping alcohol service in pubs and clubs by 3am and a 1.30am “lockout” (to stop people entering the venue), as well as restrictions on takeaway sales after 10pm.</p>
<p>It’s actually the closing time of the venue that has the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dar.12342/abstract">bigger impact</a> (rather than the lockout itself), so early last drinks is a better name than “lockout laws”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/are-residents-better-off-under-the-sydney-lockout-laws-83443">Are residents better off under the Sydney 'lockout laws'?</a>
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<p>The MJA study looked at the rates of alcohol-related orbital (eye socket) fractures before and after the changes to alcohol access. There were 27 fewer fractures that required surgical management during the period of the laws. That’s an estimated total saving of nearly half a million dollars in hospital, ambulance and other medical costs.</p>
<p>Some orbital fractures can be considered minor injuries. But in 2016, some of the same authors <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/203/9/presentations-alcohol-related-serious-injury-major-sydney-trauma-hospital-after">found a 25% reduction</a> in major alcohol-related injuries (such as the so-called “one punch” injuries) in the 12 months after the laws were introduced. Such injuries often result in doctors such as myself having to tell parents their child may have a serious head injury or possibly be brain dead.</p>
<p>This latest research adds to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.13621/abstract">compelling evidence from Australia</a> and internationally that demonstrates restricting access to alcohol by closing drinking venues early reduces serious assaults and injuries. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curfews-and-lockouts-battles-over-drinking-time-have-a-long-history-in-nsw-58220">Curfews and lockouts: battles over drinking time have a long history in NSW</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21906198">Norwegian study</a> showed the effect in both directions when towns changed opening hours of pubs and clubs after 1am. Alcohol-related assaults increased by almost 20% per hour with increased opening hours, and vice versa with early last drinks. </p>
<p>The biggest and most comprehensive study internationally on alcohol-related presentations to EDs, which include intoxication and other emergencies besides injuries, found almost one in ten of all attendances were alcohol-related. That equates to a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29155471">staggering half a million patients</a> every year presenting to Australian EDs with alcohol-related harm. The economic cost is huge, but the human cost even bigger.</p>
<p>Emergency department staff are <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2016/204/4/perceptions-australasian-emergency-department-staff-impact-alcohol-related">frequently assaulted</a> by drunk patients. They frighten and disrupt the care of other patients, including children and the elderly. We surveyed more that 2,000 ED staff in 2014 and found nine out of ten had experienced violence from a drunk person in the emergency department.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Alcohol-related violence against emergency department staff is a serious issue.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The Sydney laws were <a href="https://www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au/Documents/public-consultation/independent%20liquor%20law%20review/Liquor-Law-Review-Report.pdf">reviewed in 2016 by Justice Callinan</a> and relaxed by 30 minutes for the last drinks and lockouts, and 60 minutes for takeaway alcohol sales. Research points to the fact this will result in increased assaults and injuries, both for the general public and health workers.</p>
<p>The Queensland government recently introduced early (2am) last drinks across the state. This will result in a <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-2016-004">significant reduction</a> in alcohol-related assaults and injuries, as well as massive cost savings and productivity gains.</p>
<p>Policymakers in other states and territories have the ability to turn off this tap of human misery and injury. They can’t stop it completely, but they can reduce it dramatically by introducing early last drinks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92343/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diana Egerton-Warburton has received Commonwealth funding for some of the studies cited in the article. She is an executive member of the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (NAAA). She is also on the Australian National Advisory Council for Alcohol and Drugs (ANACAD).</span></em></p>A new study exploring the number of alcohol-related injuries treated at Sydney emergency department has found the lockout seem to be having an impact.Diana Egerton-Warburton, Associate Professor, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/834432017-09-11T19:40:58Z2017-09-11T19:40:58ZAre residents better off under the Sydney ‘lockout laws’?<p>The Sydney “<a href="https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/2014-3.pdf">lockout laws</a>” have created <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2017/03/05/sydney-lockout-laws-displace-assaults-to-surrounding-suburbs_a_21873863/">significant debate</a> about whether crime is being reduced, if it is being pushed into surrounding areas, and what the impacts are on <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/lockout-laws-a-winner-for-potts-point-and-kings-cross-apartments-20160228-gn5ys8.html">local residents</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-4932.12358/abstract">My research with Georgia Perks</a> found that, despite <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/BB/Report-Did-the-lockout-law-reforms-increase-assaults-at-The-Star-casino-Pyrmont-bb114.pdf">reports of increased violence</a> in these areas surrounding the lockout zone, the benefit outweighs the costs for local residents.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/where-are-they-now-what-public-transport-data-reveal-about-lockout-laws-and-nightlife-patronage-73521">Where are they now? What public transport data reveal about lockout laws and nightlife patronage</a>
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<p>Our analysis of rental prices shows a small decline immediately after the lockout laws came into effect in February 2014. Since then, rents in these areas have outstripped other comparable areas in Sydney. </p>
<p>This shows that residents of areas affected by the lockout are benefiting from new entertainment hubs and a nightlife economy that have sprung up since the lockout laws took effect.</p>
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<h2>The impact of the lockout laws on crime</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/2014-3.pdf">The lockout law</a> prohibits people entering hotels, registered clubs, nightclubs and karaoke bars after 1.30am in several areas of Sydney’s CBD (also called the <a href="http://www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au/Pages/liquor/law-and-policy/precincts/sydney-cbd-precinct.aspx">Sydney Entertainment Precinct</a>). These venues also have to stop serving alcohol after 3am. </p>
<p>This law is a type of “geographically targeted crime control”. This means it targets “hot spots”, rather than the root cause of the crime.</p>
<p>If we are simply concerned about crime reduction, there are now <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/system/files/issues/203_09/10.5694mja15.00637.pdf">several</a> <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/CJB183.pdf">studies</a> that show the lockout laws have substantially reduced the amount of alcohol-related violence and injuries in the targeted areas.</p>
<p>Restrictions on alcohol access have also been shown to work elsewhere, notably in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9848970">Western Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20840191">Newcastle</a>, and <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/441-460/tandi454.html">Queensland</a>. Outside of Australia, this has been shown to work in the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3224020/">United States</a>, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254420066_Alcohol_Availability_and_Crime_Lessons_from_Liberalized_Weekend_Sales_Restrictions">Sweden</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5429894/">the Netherlands</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/callinan-review-largely-backs-sydney-lockout-laws-but-alcohols-role-in-family-violence-is-a-blind-spot-65404">Callinan review largely backs Sydney lockout laws, but alcohol's role in family violence is a blind spot</a>
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<p>So there is sufficient evidence to support the effectiveness of restrictions like the lockout laws in reducing crime in the targeted areas. But <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/BB/Report-Did-the-lockout-law-reforms-increase-assaults-at-The-Star-casino-Pyrmont-bb114.pdf">the research</a> also shows increased violence in neighbouring areas, suggesting crime has moved. </p>
<p>An important question is whether increased nightlife in these surrounding areas outweighs the cost of increased crime, and what is more important to local residents. </p>
<h2>Weighing up the lockout laws</h2>
<p>A standard way to quantify the pros and cons of a policy like the lockout laws to local residents, and to weigh up factors such as crime and added entertainment venues, is to look at housing market data. </p>
<p>When they make their decisions, potential buyers and sellers take into account information such as local crime and amenities (schools, entertainment venues, etc). Market prices then reflect this information and decision-making. If the average price in an area increases that means the value of living in that area has increased, taking all factors into consideration.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lockout-laws-repeat-centuries-old-mistake-of-denying-value-of-cities-as-messy-places-58281">Lockout laws repeat centuries-old mistake of denying value of cities as messy places</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Using this logic, we studied rental prices in areas surrounding the target areas for the lockout laws. More data is available on rental prices in the short run than house prices, so it is useful to study the immediate market response to new policies. </p>
<p>We collected prices both before and after the lockout law took effect, and compared areas in Sydney that have entertainment venues such as Newtown and Pyrmont (the “displacement area”) with areas that don’t, such as Alexandria, Chippendale, and Rozelle (the “control area”).</p>
<p>Our results show that there was a relatively small drop in rental prices of smaller dwellings (most likely to be on the main roads surrounding entertainment venues) in areas neighbouring the lockout, but this effect was weak and short-lived. This indicates that the market responded negatively to the increased crime being displaced from lockout areas, but this sentiment dissipated quickly.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we observe a greater, positive effect for larger dwellings. These are most likely to be off the main roads, having some separation from the noise and lights of the entertainment hubs but still near the nightlife. This phenomenon persisted throughout our study period, as shown in the following chart. </p>
<p>The trend in the displacement area outweighed the trend in the control area. This difference after the implementation of the laws is statistically significant.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/JqCx3/3/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="367"></iframe>
<p>Overall our research strengthens the idea that the lockout laws are effective in controlling alcohol-fuelled crime and violence. <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/BB/Report-Did-the-lockout-law-reforms-increase-assaults-at-The-Star-casino-Pyrmont-bb114.pdf">Data show</a> that crime and violence in displacement areas increased by a much smaller amount than the reduction in the lockout areas. This means residents in the displacement areas are actually better off due to new access to entertainment venues and the nightlife economy. </p>
<p>However, this is not a full endorsement of the lockout laws. Neither our research nor earlier studies have investigated the business side of the lockout laws and the impact on the nightlife economy. There are likely to be forgone profits and lost jobs in targeted areas, as well as extra profits and new job opportunities in the displacement areas.</p>
<p>Similarly, we should study the gains and losses of non-resident late-night partygoers. The loss of nightlife and live entertainment culture in the target area was continuously highlighted in the debate. </p>
<p>These concern have influenced a <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sydney-lockout-laws-20-kings-cross-city-pubs-and-venues-get-extra-trading-time/news-story/218a103c421a20e2625f6f254ab5fb72">recent relaxation</a> in the lockout laws for establishments that provide “genuine live entertainment”. Is this the right decision? We have a strong evidence of the effectiveness of the Sydney lockout laws in crime prevention. What we need is further evidence of the effects on these other groups.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This research and article included contributions from Georgia Perks.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83443/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shiko Maruyama does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Analysis of rents in Sydney shows that local residents are benefiting from the lockout laws, thanks to new entertainment hubs and nightlife.Shiko Maruyama, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/735212017-04-10T20:12:53Z2017-04-10T20:12:53ZWhere are they now? What public transport data reveal about lockout laws and nightlife patronage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160264/original/image-20170310-3680-19g6uxv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In one regard, lockout laws have succeeded in decreasing crime. But take a step back to see a city-wide perspective, and there are many other issues to consider.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It is vital that public policy be driven by rigorous research. In the last decade key policy changes have had profound impacts on nightlife in Sydney’s inner city and suburbs. The most significant and controversial of these has been the 2014 “lockout laws”. </p>
<p>These were a series of legislative and regulatory policies aimed at reducing alcohol-related violence and disorder through new criminal penalties and key trading restrictions, including 1.30am lockouts and a 3am end to service in select urban <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_news/Mapping-the-impact-of-the-Sydney-lockout-laws-on-assault.aspx">“hotspots”</a>.</p>
<p>A range of lobbyists, including New South Wales Police and accident and emergency services, welcomed these initiatives. </p>
<p>By contrast, venue operators, industry organisations and patron groups have made repeated but largely anecdotal claims that these changes caused a sharp downturn in profit, employment and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lockout-laws-repeat-centuries-old-mistake-of-denying-value-of-cities-as-messy-places-58281">cultural vibrancy</a> in targeted areas. They also claim that the “lockouts” have caused drinking-related problems to spill over into urban areas that are less equipped to cope with them. </p>
<h2>Crime is down</h2>
<p>However, in late 2016, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/callinan-review-largely-backs-sydney-lockout-laws-but-alcohols-role-in-family-violence-is-a-blind-spot-65404">Callinan Review</a> referenced <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/CJB183.pdf">compelling evidence</a> in <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/203/9/presentations-alcohol-related-serious-injury-major-sydney-trauma-hospital-after?0=ip_login_no_cache%3D81fb0c422065f4e0fd465916db3c81bd">support of the current policy</a>. </p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/Report-2017-Effect-of-lockout-and-last-drinks-laws-on-non-domestic-assaults-cjb201.pdf">latest research</a>, recorded rates of crime are down by around 49% in the designated Kings Cross precinct and 13% in Sydney’s CBD. </p>
<p>In contrast, what little research has been produced by opponents of strict nightlife regulation has been criticised as <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/flawed-city-of-sydney-report-fuels-alcohol-lobby-20160207-gmnmgg.html">unreliable, inaccurate and poorly deployed</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/160275/original/image-20170310-3700-7ihbcv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The pattern of assaults has shifted since the lockout laws began.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BOCSAR</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Callinan Review noted the lack of verifiable claims about the negative impacts of the policy in submissions from the main opponents of the lockout laws. This has led to a great deal of assumption in the final report about where, for example, revellers, jobs, entertainment and revenue might have been displaced to, or how the policy changes affected them. </p>
<p>In many respects, the passing over of claims made by anti-lockout groups is rather unfair. These groups are not official state bodies with the capacity to produce the type of data or evidence on which the policy has been justified and defended. As such, their <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-24-7-city-creativity-and-the-lockout-laws-56271">“unscientific” observations</a> and experiences have been largely dismissed. </p>
<p>To critically balance and juxtapose opposing claims, more impact data and research are needed.</p>
<h2>We must take a city-wide perspective</h2>
<p>If the lockout policy is judged on the original goal of decreasing crime in designated “hotspots”, then it appears to have been a success. </p>
<p>However, from a city-wide perspective there are other issues to consider. Not the least of these is the effects in other nightlife sites across Sydney. </p>
<p>Despite initially finding <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/CJB183.pdf">no displacement of violence</a> to nearby nightlife sites, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) has just <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/Report-2017-Effect-of-lockout-and-last-drinks-laws-on-non-domestic-assaults-cjb201.pdf">released findings</a> showing significant displacement in rates of recorded non-domestic-related violence in destinations outside the lockout zone. </p>
<p>Reported crime rates in Newtown, one of the displacement sites listed in the BOCSAR study (along with Bondi and Double Bay), increased by 17% in the 32 months following the lockouts. </p>
<p>These new findings appear to vindicate some local complaints about increased night violence – including attacks targeting LGBTI victims – that has led to much resident irritation and even political protest in recent years. </p>
<h2>Adjusting our nightlife habits</h2>
<p>So, how can we better judge the veracity of these claims about the displacement of nuisance and violence? </p>
<p>Mapping patronage trends is a key means of understanding how and why rates of assault have now increased despite initially showing little to no change. </p>
<p>To this end, Kevin McIsaac and I, with data from Transport for NSW, have set out to ascertain if and how nightlife participation in Sydney has been influenced by the lockouts. </p>
<p>Our analysis focused on night-time aggregated train validation data (turnstile counts) from January 2013 to July 2016 for stations servicing the designated nightlife precincts (Kings Cross, Town Hall) and precincts outside the lock-out zone (Newtown, Parramatta). </p>
<p>Using Bayesian Change Point (BCP) detection we found the following:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>no evidence of changes to Kings Cross or Parramatta exit traffic from the introduction of the lockout laws;</p></li>
<li><p>evidence of strong growth in the Parramatta Friday-night exit traffic by about 200% since January 2013, which is independent of the lockout laws;</p></li>
<li><p>evidence of an increase of about 300% in the Newtown Friday-night exit traffic as a result of the lock-out laws; and</p></li>
<li><p>in all stations, the BCP algorithm detected a change when OPAL card usage exceeded magnetic ticket usage. This suggests the jumps seen in the graphs below are due to the higher exit reporting from OPAL. The switch from flat to slow growth in trend is probably an artefact of the relative increase in OPAL usage.</p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159919/original/image-20170308-27355-16o7ft2.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kings Cross change point Friday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159920/original/image-20170308-27327-g37eyu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kings Cross change point Saturday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159921/original/image-20170308-27347-qggfez.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Newtown change point Friday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159922/original/image-20170308-27360-2tvpi9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Newtown change point Saturday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159923/original/image-20170308-27373-11053fc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parramatta change point Friday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=194&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/159925/original/image-20170308-27341-1lwtmba.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=244&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parramatta change point Saturday night.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These findings provide new insights into the way people have adjusted their nightlife habits. The most interesting finding is the dramatic increase in access to Newtown nightlife. Exits in Newtown have increased 300% since the lock-outs were introduced in 2014. </p>
<p>As can be seen from the graph, the rate of increase has been steady over the study period. This raises questions about whether there is a threshold at which patron density becomes an issue that potentially results in increased nuisance and violence. </p>
<h2>Big data’s capacity to help</h2>
<p>While this research is still in its early phases, the transport data tell one small, yet significant, part of the story. However, to draw definite conclusions, there is far more that needs to be considered. </p>
<p>Many nightlife patrons travel into the city by different means, or don’t travel at all (those who live in and around the city). </p>
<p>We need alternative data to try to identify patterns concerning these groups. Several different organisations have data that could help paint a more complete picture, including telcos, Google, Taxis NSW and Uber. </p>
<p>While these organisations should be protective of their data, the value of anonymous aggregate location data is how it can inform and advance public policy through ethical research. This information is key to breaking down access barriers. Without access to these anonymous aggregations of privately controlled data, the capacity of research is limited.</p>
<p>As such, there is a need for greater communication, collaboration and co-operation between producers of big data, the government and researchers into social impact. By building stronger evidence for all manner of policies, such partnerships have an amazing potential to contribute to the public good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73521/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Wadds does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Policy changes such as the ‘lockout laws’ have had profound impacts on inner Sydney nightlife. Transport data help us see whether these have caused problems to spill over into neighbouring areas.Phillip Wadds, Lecturer in Criminology, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/720912017-03-08T19:24:44Z2017-03-08T19:24:44ZBanning orders won’t solve alcohol-fuelled violence – but they can be part of the solution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/159490/original/image-20170306-931-19cf7ku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Queensland, police can issue on-the-spot ten-day banning orders to patrons who engage in violent or anti-social behaviour in and around licensed venues.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Peled</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/publications/monographs/monograph-43">majority of initiatives</a> introduced to tackle alcohol-related violence in Australia involve limiting alcohol service through licensing, responsible service laws, last-drinks laws, and lockouts. </p>
<p>The option to ban people from drinking in specific premises has always rested with operators and different states’ liquor licensing laws. But several states currently use <a href="https://www.police.qld.gov.au/programs/drugs/policebanningnotices.htm">police banning orders</a>, which focus on offending patrons. Are these the answer to curbing alcohol-fuelled violence?</p>
<h2>What are banning orders, and how prevalent are they?</h2>
<p>Police banning orders have been <a href="http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/tableoffice/tabledpapers/2010/5310t1903.pdf">used in Queensland</a> since October 2014. They are also used in other Australian states, including New South Wales and Victoria. </p>
<p>In Queensland, police <a href="https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/liquor-gaming/liquor/compliance-licensees/refusal-service/banning">can issue</a> on-the-spot ten-day banning orders to patrons who engage in violent or anti-social behaviour in and around licensed venues.</p>
<p>Banning orders restrict patrons from remaining in or entering: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>public places within “safe-night precincts”; </p></li>
<li><p>stated licensed premises; and/or</p></li>
<li><p>events being held in public places where liquor will be sold. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>Breaching a banning order in Queensland <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/P/PolicePowResA00.pdf">can result in</a> fines of up to A$7,314. Repeat offenders or those involved in serious incidents can be issued with an extended banning order of up to three months.</p>
<p>The aim of police banning orders is to deter and reduce violence and anti-social behaviour through immediate expulsion from night-time entertainment precincts and licensed venues. </p>
<p>In 2016, 3,936 people were issued ten-day banning orders across the 15 safe-night precincts in Queensland, according to the Queensland Police Service. These are key entertainment districts across the state that are managed by a board of local venue owners and businesses.</p>
<p>On average, 74 patrons were excluded from safe-night precincts each week. In the Fortitude Valley safe-night precinct alone, police issued 1,057 banning orders in 2016 – an average of 20 per week.</p>
<p>An additional 1,104 people were issued extended banning orders across Queensland. This is an average of 21 per week.</p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/D4ibx/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="500"></iframe>
<p>Police banning orders have some potential to minimise harm from violent, intoxicated patrons and prevent more serious criminal charges. But their effectiveness is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27340965">largely reliant</a> on the ability of police and licensed venue staff to accurately identify banned individuals and enforce the orders. </p>
<h2>Can ID scanning help?</h2>
<p>We don’t have good evidence for the effectiveness of banning orders. But the introduction of the networked ID scanning system in Queensland’s safe-night precincts could improve the efficacy of police banning orders by facilitating strict enforcement of temporary exclusions and minimising harm from violent, intoxicated offenders.</p>
<p>As of July 1, 2017, licensed venues that are approved to trade 12 midnight in Queensland’s safe-night precincts <a href="https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industries/hospitality-tourism-sport/liquor-gaming/liquor/tackling-violence">will be required</a> to a operate a networked ID scanner.</p>
<p>Network ID scanning is expected to provide these licensees with a useful tool to increase safety inside their premises, and also prevent repeat offending – at least within the specific precinct – while the order is in place. The approved third-party operator of the networked ID scanners will store the data and must ensure that it is deleted after 30 days. All parties are subject to privacy regulations.</p>
<p>A similar, voluntary ID scanning system has been operating in the Victorian city of Geelong since 2007. There is no evidence the system has directly reduced violence in the area. But <a href="http://dro.deakin.edu.au/view/DU:30043918">many licensees felt</a> the system was a cost-effective way to promote social order inside their venues.</p>
<h2>Proceed with caution</h2>
<p>Banning orders can encourage personal responsibility, hold unruly patrons accountable, and provide a way for police to demonstrate that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated at night. </p>
<p>However, heavy reliance and investment in bans and scanners should be done with caution – and an awareness of the potential consequences. </p>
<p>Police in Queensland have considerable discretion in determining whether to implement a ban or arrest and charge an offending individual within safe-night precincts. Judicial oversight is retained only in the case of longer bans of three months of more. So, these bans may lead to <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0004865813514064">selective targeting</a> of particular types of “troublemakers”. </p>
<p>There is also a potential for banning orders to merely relocate offenders to suburban pubs and smaller bars outside safe-night precincts. </p>
<p>As a result, banning orders and ID scanning networks must be considered as two steps toward targeted deterrence, with a need for greater emphasis on facilitating behavioural change among problematic patrons.</p>
<p>Considering the <a href="http://www.jsad.com/doi/abs/10.15288/jsad.2016.77.606">available evidence</a> that suggests these individuals are often frequent clubbers, heavy drinkers and repeat violent offenders in the night-time economy, short bans may have a limited deterrence effect with regard to future offending. </p>
<p>And while banning orders seek to remove problematic individuals from places where they are most likely to cause harm to others, they do not tackle unsafe drinking practices or tackle a national drinking culture in which alcohol is often consumed solely for the purpose of becoming intoxicated. </p>
<p>To better tackle these underlying factors, banning orders could be used to identify individuals who would benefit from treatment intervention strategies for aggression, violence and/or substance abuse. </p>
<p>Repeat offenders should be required to undertake a brief intervention regime of three sessions of alcohol/aggression education – similar to that undertaken by second- and third-time <a href="http://www.liveslivedwell.org.au/our-programs/working-with-offenders/">cannabis offenders</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, there is a clear need for rigorous evaluation and potential experimentation of banning and scanning processes and outcomes to establish best practice, and maximise the potential for positive health and justice outcomes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72091/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Renee Zahnow receives funding from The Australian Research Council and the Queensland State Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominique de Andrade has previously received funding as an Australian Research Council Australian Postgraduate Award Industry recipient while conducting her PhD studies. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Ferris receives fellowship funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, The Australian Research Council, Queensland State Government. the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education. Jason Ferris is the chief statistician for the Global Drug Survey. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerri Coomber receives funding from the Australian Research Council and Queensland State Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Miller receives funding from Australian Research Council and Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, grants from NSW Government, National Drug Law Enforcement Research Fund, Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, Cancer Council Victoria, Queensland government and Australian Drug Foundation, travel and related costs from Australasian Drug Strategy Conference. He has acted as a paid expert witness on behalf of a licensed venue and a security firm.</span></em></p>Banning orders can encourage personal responsibility and demonstrate that anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.Renee Zahnow, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of QueenslandDominique de Andrade, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Queensland University of TechnologyJason Ferris, Senior Research Fellow (Drugs, Alcohol and Crime Research), NHMRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The University of QueenslandKerri Coomber, Research Fellow, Deakin UniversityPeter Miller, Professor of Violence Prevention and Addiction Studies, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/654042016-09-16T04:09:16Z2016-09-16T04:09:16ZCallinan review largely backs Sydney lockout laws, but alcohol’s role in family violence is a blind spot<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/137885/original/image-20160915-30587-exroys.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sydney's Kings Cross and CBD are safer as a result of the lockout measures, but it has come at a cost to the precincts' 'vibrancy'.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/April Fonti</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two years after they were introduced, former High Court judge Ian Callinan’s <a href="http://www.liquorlawreview.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/report/LiquorLawReviewReport.pdf">review</a> of <a href="http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/acts/2014-3.pdf">Sydney’s lockout laws</a> was released earlier this week. Throughout this period <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/lockout-laws-have-reduced-numbers-hospitalised-due-to-alcoholrelated-violence-20150415-1mlliy.html">supporters</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-21/about-8000-protest-against-sydney-lockout-laws/7187372">opponents</a> have been involved in a highly polarised debate about the laws’ effectiveness.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.9news.com.au/national/2016/09/13/03/36/nsw-lockout-law-review-due">early headlines</a> on the report focused on some suggested “relaxations” to the laws. But its main message has largely been lost: it came down strongly on the side of the laws.</p>
<h2>What did the report find?</h2>
<p>The report found the government’s objective of reducing alcohol-and-drug-related assaults and anti-social behaviour remain valid. It also found that the measures introduced – including the 1.30am lockout and 3am last drinks – are achieving this.</p>
<p>It contains a genuine attempt to assess the principal objections of the laws’ <a href="http://www.liquorlawreview.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/report/LiquorLawReviewReport.pdf#page=4">opponents</a> and <a href="http://www.liquorlawreview.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/report/LiquorLawReviewReport.pdf#page=8">supporters</a> against the available evidence. Callinan placed great weight on the evidence of medical professionals and emergency service workers – described as having “the least or no self-interest” – and the statistics.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Pages/bocsar_pages/Alcohol_Related_Violence.aspx">The numbers</a> are compelling:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a 45% reduction in non-domestic assaults in Kings Cross and a 20.3% reduction in the CBD;</p></li>
<li><p>minimal evidence of displacement of violence to surrounding areas in Sydney;</p></li>
<li><p>a 25% reduction in alcohol-related and serious critical injuries at St Vincent’s Hospital; and</p></li>
<li><p>a <a href="https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2015/203/9/presentations-alcohol-related-serious-injury-major-sydney-trauma-hospital-after">69% reduction</a> in alcohol-related facial fractures requiring surgery.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The report recognises that while the Kings Cross and CBD precincts are safer as a result of the measures, this had come at a cost to “vibrancy” and the profitability of businesses, particularly live-music venues. Callinan’s sympathy, however, was less for the hip-pockets of licensed venue operators than for:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Musicians and other entertainers [who] have been adversely economically affected by the laws. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Motivated by a desire to alleviate these effects, the report cautiously invites the government to trial a relaxation of the laws’ most-contentious aspects: a half-hour increase in the lockout time (to 2am) and last-drinks time (to 3.30am) for “genuine entertainment venues”.</p>
<p>It also recommends the relaxation of the 10pm closing time for bottle shops to 11pm, with home delivery until midnight. This regulation operates across New South Wales.</p>
<h2>Who won the argument and why?</h2>
<p>It’s clear who won the contest. But why? </p>
<p>The easy answer is the data “spoke”: the evidence of crime and injury reduction was overwhelming. Opponents of the laws did not produce hard data on the adverse effects they asserted could trump the evidence supporters and neutral parties tabled. </p>
<p>Callinan was underwhelmed by contentions advanced without supporting evidence. For example, he said it was impossible to verify or contradict the claim that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… creative people have left Sydney for Melbourne and are thriving there.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But this report wasn’t just about numbers. Running through it is a strong value judgement on the merits or otherwise of the <a href="http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/towards-2030/business-and-economy/sydney-at-night/night-time-economy">“night-time economy”</a> and the part of Sydney where it thrives (or perhaps used to):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have formed the view that the two precincts at night were grossly overcrowded, violent, noisy, and in places dirty, before the amendments, but that after them, they were transformed into much safer, quieter and cleaner areas.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Note that behaviour that is universally understood to be undesirable – violence – is conflated with some rather more mundane urban blights: noisiness, dirtiness, overcrowding. </p>
<p>One of the few redeeming features of this world Callinan identifies as worth protecting is the artistic endeavours of musicians – hence the suggestion of a relaxation for “genuine entertainment venues”. </p>
<p>The report seems to imagine a Kings Cross in which such artistic pursuits can somehow be extracted from the hurly-burly that has always been a characteristic of this area at night.</p>
<p>A related message is that businesses and individuals should have done more to “adapt” to the new regulatory environment in which they found themselves, such as “slightly shorter performances earlier in the evening”.</p>
<p>But this is a pretty simplistic take on the ease with which venue operators could change the habits of a whole generation of performers and live-music fans. Any takers for a punk band performance at 5.30pm? But perhaps that’s not what Callinan meant by “genuine” entertainment.</p>
<p>Whatever the motivation for the proposed relaxation of lockout and last-drinks times, an extra half-hour is likely to be regarded as token. If the NSW government decides to go down this path, live-venue operators will also need to grapple with the devil in the detail. What will qualify as a “genuine entertainment venue”? </p>
<p>Callinan appears to endorse a <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/wa/consol_reg/lcr1989306/s8a.html">Western Australian definition</a> that would exclude pre-recorded music and that would appear to value entertainers over others:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Any definition would need to ensure that anyone engaged to play pre-recorded music does more than mechanically reproduce the creativity of others. An entertainer needs to bring his or her engagement some genuine additional creative element, otherwise it would be easy to evade the operation of the laws.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Sorry <a href="http://thedjlist.com/djs/">Tiesto and co.</a>, you probably need not apply.</p>
<h2>The domestic violence blind spot</h2>
<p>The report’s most-troubling part has little to do with Kings Cross or live music: it is the proposed relaxation of the requirement that bottle shops close at 10pm. Callinan concludes this makes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… little or no contribution to violence and anti-social behaviour in the precincts, even less so when it is home-delivered. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But that is not really the point. </p>
<p>The review’s <a href="http://www.liquorlawreview.justice.nsw.gov.au/Pages/terms-of-reference.aspx">terms of reference</a> called for a statewide assessment of the restriction, especially in rural and remote communities. It is concerning that the report suggests the government consider relaxing this restriction, even as it acknowledges:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… such an extension may elevate the risk of domestic violence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If crime rates were the trump card in the debate over the lockout laws, why were they pushed to the margins when it came time to reviewing the takeaway and home-delivery restrictions? The review should have refrained from making any suggestion for relaxation until a full evidence-based assessment of the likely effects on rates of domestic assaults had been undertaken. </p>
<p>This is yet another example of how debate, policy and law reform on alcohol-related violence tend to focus on public violence without paying sufficient attention to the <a href="http://fare.org.au/2015/02/the-hidden-harm-alcohols-impact-on-children-and-families/">role alcohol plays</a> in “private” violence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65404/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Quilter has received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology grant scheme.</span></em></p>A review of Sydney’s lockout laws found the objective of reducing alcohol- and drug-related assaults and anti-social behaviour remain valid, and the measures introduced are achieving this.Julia Quilter, Associate Professor of Law, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/582812016-06-07T00:41:50Z2016-06-07T00:41:50ZLockout laws repeat centuries-old mistake of denying value of cities as messy places<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-lockouts-sydney-needs-to-become-a-more-inclusive-city-55821">Sydney’s lockout laws</a>, as well as current and proposed restrictions in other Australian cities including <a href="https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/entertainment/article/small-bars-and-music-venues">Melbourne</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/brisbane-lockouts-pass/7175962">Brisbane</a>, <a href="http://pilerats.com/written/deep-meaningful/that-time-perth-trialled-lockout-laws-and-decided-against-it/">Perth</a> and <a href="http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/lockout-laws-how-newcastle-stopped-the-bloodshed-20160109-gm2lfg.html">Newcastle</a>, are perhaps more about regulating people’s behaviours in cities than about liquor licensing. </p>
<p>Such knee-jerk responses to tidy up the mess of complex issues belie society’s need for diversity. They also neglect culture’s debt to the manifold possibilities of social behaviour in urban space.</p>
<p>Viewed as part of a broader historical pattern, such episodes of regulatory crackdown remind us that a seemingly purified city is not necessarily a healthy or diverse one.</p>
<h2>Early steps</h2>
<p>Australian cities have always been extraordinarily diverse places. Amid broader sociocultural and regulatory shifts, this diversity has produced instability as people from different backgrounds, ages, means, religions, sexualities and abilities have come together. </p>
<p>Some of the places where these <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8144265">instabilities play out</a> are on the streets and in drinking establishments such as the café, bar and pub. People watch each other, ascribing meanings onto each other based on visual cues. Public drunkenness is one such cue. </p>
<p>An especially notorious instance was in <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8141915">London in the early 1700s</a> during the gin craze. William Hogarth, the pictorial satirist of urban life, captured “Gin Lane” in 1751. On the streets of London, <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21554934">Hogarth moralised the issue</a>, representing men wasting away rather than working, and a mother neglecting her children, allowing them to fall headfirst down the stairs. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=695&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121499/original/image-20160506-32037-1fck7t1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=874&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">William Hogarth, Gin Lane, 1750-51.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The issue was not alcohol itself (Hogarth thought beer okay), but rather the relationship between gin, nationalism and the lower classes, which apparently produced vice and neglect. The London authorities’ response was to regulate by introducing the Gin Acts, which raised prices and cut consumption.</p>
<p>In Australia, liquor licensing has also never operated in a historical or urban vacuum. English writer <a href="http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/horne-richard-henry-3797">Richard Horne</a> <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=bQtFAAAAIAAJ&q=%22scenes+that+are+witnessed%22#v=snippet&q=%22scenes%20that%20are%20witnessed%22&f=false">observed</a> in Melbourne in the 1850s:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The scenes that are witnessed, half-way up Bourke Street, in the direct line of both our Houses of Parliament [Spring Street], actually surpass anything in St Gile’s or Covent Garden [London] after dusk. It may seem strange that city authorities do not abate these disgraceful nuisances.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The “nuisances” he saw were young women. A <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/34448005">typical mid-19th-century moralist</a>, Horne believed – based on visual cues – that these women were “depraved”. Being an unaccompanied woman on the street was apparently linked to the dual vices of drinking and prostitution. </p>
<p>The solution Horne proposed was intervention by the urban authorities, to clear the streets for people that he perceived as more respectable.</p>
<h2>The 20th century to today</h2>
<p>Over the next century, the <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01478b.htm">temperance movement</a> sought to eliminate all alcohol consumption. So came about <a href="http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/464/0">the pubs with no beer</a>: the coffee palaces. </p>
<p>Across the Australian city, immaculate buildings were designed by leading architects to house these late-night venues, including the <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM00554b.htm">Federal Coffee Palace</a> in Melbourne, the Sydney Coffee Palace in Woolloomooloo and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Palace,_Brisbane">People’s Palace</a> in Brisbane. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/121500/original/image-20160506-32021-1fihqvp.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People’s Palace after extensions were added, Ann Street, Brisbane, c. 1913.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of Queensland</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Urban improvement extended from buildings to the streets where freshwater fountains were constructed to quench the thirst of urban dwellers “in the interests of humanity and temperance”. Improving streets and cities for the greater good, such measures were typical of turn-of-the-20th-century social advocacy. </p>
<p>Young people were <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=PgKOCwAAQBAJ">known to congregate around the fountains</a>. Even during periods of restrictive liquor licensing, urban diversity has taken many forms, so long as alternative public places have been provided.</p>
<p>The next challenge for inner-city urban life related to liquor regulation was the early closing movement, coupled with rapid <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/version/45629457">mid-20th-century suburbanisation</a> that emptied out the Australian CBD outside the working week. The early closure of pubs led to the infamous <a href="http://journals.publishing.monash.edu.au/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/347">six o’clock swill</a>. </p>
<p>Although temperance campaigners denied the existence of a <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18263091">“Pig Swill”</a> during the NSW Royal Commission on Liquor in 1952, had the campaigners visited a pub or the street in the late afternoon their minds might have been changed. The refusal to visit the streets, to seek out visual cues, represented a form of wilful blindness typical across urban history. </p>
<p>At that time, hordes of pub patrons, predominantly men, <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article105885981">entered the street</a> on their way home to the suburbs. Outside Melbourne’s <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01672b.htm">Young and Jackson</a> pub on Swanston Street, opposite Flinders Street Station, men lined up to publicly urinate against the tiles. Walking past this prominent spot, opposite St Paul’s Cathedral, was no doubt an undesirable street experience. </p>
<p>Over the coming years every Australian city liberalised its licensing hours. <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/archives/80days/stories/2012/01/19/3411509.htm">Adelaide was the last</a> to do so in 1967. These changes paved the way for the night culture familiar to us today.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=448&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122664/original/image-20160516-11105-1xca37z.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=563&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In 1967, Adelaide became the last Australian city to end the ‘six o'clock swill’.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Six_o%27_clock_closing_ABC.ogv">Screenshot, Six o'clock closing provided by the ABC</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Whenever authorities have regulated the city there have been unintended consequences. Heightening liquor regulation has for centuries been the immediate response of urban policymakers when confronted with people and behaviours deemed socially undesirable. </p>
<p>The overarching goal has been to impose a sense of order on the city and its spaces. But that happens at the expense of <a href="http://www.emelbourne.net.au/biogs/EM01431b.htm">street life</a>, public safety and social diversity. Shutting the pub early impacts urban life as a holistic ecosystem and, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/apr/15/given-time-lockout-lawssydney-underground-renaissance">without viable public alternatives</a> as in the past, this serves to eliminate difference on the street. </p>
<p>Cities thrive as messy places. No matter the underlying justification, to “lock out” the city is to diminish it.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/curfews-and-lockouts-battles-over-drinking-time-have-a-long-history-in-nsw-58220">Curfews and lockouts: battles over drinking time have a long history in NSW</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Heightening liquor regulation has for centuries been the immediate response of urban policymakers when confronted with people and behaviours deemed socially undesirable.Andrew J. May, Professor of History, The University of MelbourneJames Lesh, Research Assistant and PhD Candidate, School of Historical and Philosophical Studies, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/582202016-06-03T22:37:40Z2016-06-03T22:37:40ZCurfews and lockouts: battles over drinking time have a long history in NSW<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120420/original/image-20160428-30950-7ttfxc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The regulation of drinking has helped create precisely the violent, misogynistic and law-breaking culture that it was intended to control.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:John_Brack_-_The_Bar.jpg">John Brack/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The ongoing controversy about the effectiveness of the New South Wales government’s <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/09/mike-baird-defends-sydney-lockout-laws-city-is-safer-and-more-vibrant">lockout laws</a> and their <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/05/sydneys-fun-police-have-put-out-the-light-of-the-nightlife-the-citys-a-global-laughing-stock">impact on Sydney’s nightlife</a> is part of a broader pattern in the city’s history. </p>
<p>Since the earliest days of British colonisation, authorities have sought to limit the problems associated with alcohol by licensing its sale and limiting the times and places where it is drunk. But, ironically, this kind of regulation has helped to create precisely the violent, misogynistic and law-breaking drinking culture that it was intended to control.</p>
<h2>The struggle to license pubs</h2>
<p>The British convicts, military and officials who first established Sydney came from a society in which drinking was ubiquitous and the pub was <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/The_English_Alehouse.html?id=svCBAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">central to everyday life</a>, but the social elite <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_Street_and_Gin_Lane">hypocritically condemned</a> drunkenness.</p>
<p>The first governor of NSW, Arthur Phillip reflected these two views <a href="https://archive.org/stream/historicalrecord1pt2sidnuoft/historicalrecord1pt2sidnuoft_djvu.txt">when he said</a>, in 1792, that providing a supply of alcohol to the settlement:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>… may be necessary but it will certainly be a great evil. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By the end of his time in NSW, Phillip was forced to issue the first liquor licences in a vain effort to reduce the booming trade in smuggled rum.</p>
<p>Successive governors struggled and failed to <a href="http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/923">control this trade</a>. Officially licensed pubs had strict conditions on their licences, including orders to close at the nightly curfew of nine o’clock. But drinking continued in the many sly-grog shops (unlicensed liquor stores) whose owners brazenly flouted the curfew by <a href="http://purl.library.usyd.edu.au/setis/id/harsett">bribing police</a>.</p>
<p>The problem of illicit sale was eventually solved through a combination of looser rules – including longer hours – and more professional police to enforce them. But this early history reinforced a culture of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8497.1981.tb00462.x/abstract">police hostility to drinkers and publicans</a>, which remains to this day.</p>
<h2>Temperance and the Sabbath</h2>
<p>By the late 1830s pubs were open until midnight. Liquor was widely available; indeed this was probably the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10314618008595636">peak era of alcohol consumption</a> in Australia’s history. </p>
<p>But Sydney’s drinking culture was transformed by temperance, the 19th-century’s <a href="http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/9521">largest social movement</a>. </p>
<p>Temperance was an international, organised and popular campaign against alcohol, which it saw as the <a href="http://www.bl.uk/collection-items/the-bottle--a-series-of-temperance-themed-illustrations-by-george-cruikshank-with-poetry-by-charles-mackay">root cause of social ills</a>. It began in efforts to persuade drinkers to pledge abstinence. When this failed, advocates <a href="http://handle.slv.vic.gov.au/10381/177902">turned to government</a>, lobbying for strict limits on access and aiming for total prohibition.</p>
<p>Sabbatarianism was a closely related movement to preserve a pious Christian Sunday. Campaigners sought to <a href="http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60597298">prevent people</a> from working or engaging in frivolous or immoral activities like visiting pubs or even museums on the Sabbath. </p>
<p>Sabbatarians also fought to enforce sobriety during Christian holidays. If you have ever wondered why you can’t buy takeaway alcohol <a href="http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/food/where-you-can-buy-booze-on-good-dryday-across-australia/story-fneuz92c-1226608979370">on Good Friday</a>, this is why.</p>
<p>This broad moral crusade targeted drinking in general, and late-night drinking in particular. Temperance alliances, formed in each colony, were among the most successful lobby groups in colonial politics. They eventually won the right to <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/num_act/lao1882n26150/">“local option”</a> – a policy whereby each electorate could vote to increase or reduce its number of licensed premises.</p>
<p>This policy’s legacy is clearly visible in modern Sydney. Inner-city areas, once dominated by working-class voters, have far more current and former pubs than the respectable middle-class suburbs.</p>
<h2>Six o’clock closing</h2>
<p>The movement’s greatest success in Australia came in 1916 with the introduction of <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10314618008595637?journalCode=rahs19">six o’clock closing</a>. </p>
<p>Amid wider calls for wartime austerity, campaigners seized on a drunken riot among soldiers training for the front and persuaded the NSW government to hold a referendum on closing hours. A majority voted for the earliest hour of six o’clock.</p>
<p>Once the war ended, the policy’s full impact became clear. With most workers finishing at five and pubs shutting at six, the hour between became known as the <a href="http://journals.publishing.monash.edu/ojs/index.php/ha/article/view/347">six o’clock swill</a>, as drinkers struggled to consume as much as they could before closing time. </p>
<p>Once again, repression led to deviance. Sly-grog houses proliferated and <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=913677561786041;res=IELAPA">crime flourished</a>. </p>
<p>Just as importantly, the swill helped consolidate segregated drinking. Respectable women avoided and were increasingly excluded from the “public” bar, which <a href="http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.une.edu.au/docview/195376565?pq-origsite=summon">became a male space</a>. Women who wished to drink in public were forced into dedicated “ladies lounges”.</p>
<h2>After six o’clock</h2>
<p>Six o’clock closing lasted for half a century across most of Australia. But, by the 1950s, there were growing calls for its repeal. The growth of mass tourism and post-war immigration exposed more Australians to other drinking cultures and highlighted the unnecessary problems associated with the swill. </p>
<p>Following a 1954 referendum, NSW extended opening hours until ten o’clock. They have steadily expanded since.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/120430/original/image-20160428-30986-1f93jhf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=292&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But the legacy of earlier restrictions remains visible in reduced Sunday trading and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/earlier-pub-closing-times-key-to-reducing-alcohol-fuelled-assaults-23829">regular calls for stricter limits</a> on drinking time. There is a <a href="http://anj.sagepub.com/content/48/1/24">clear cycle</a> of media attention, public outcry and government enthusiasm about the ongoing problem of alcohol-related violence, which seems to lead invariably to calls for further controls on drinking.</p>
<p>In the short term, such policies may well be effective, though the recent results in Sydney are <a href="http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/Documents/CJB/CJB183.pdf">at least debatable</a>. But, viewed in light of this broader history, why does it matter when we drink?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58220/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matt Allen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Since the earliest days of British colonisation, authorities have sought to limit the problems associated with alcohol by licensing its sale and limiting the times and places where it is drunk.Matt Allen, Lecturer in Historical Crimininology, University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557542016-04-08T04:04:56Z2016-04-08T04:04:56ZSuburbanising the centre: the Baird government’s anti-urban agenda for Sydney<p>The New South Wales government is imposing an anti-urban legislative and development agenda on Sydney. This agenda conceptualises Sydney as centre – a privileged social, cultural and geographic core – and elsewhere. </p>
<p>Policies like building the multi-billion-dollar <a href="http://www.westconnex.com.au/">WestConnex</a> roads system, increasing penalties and restrictions <a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-bike-laws-right-means-balancing-rights-of-cyclists-and-motorists-55244">for cyclists</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-22/millers-point-residents-meet-government-minister/6490120">privatising public housing</a> in inner-city suburbs and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/anger-as-1-billion-redevelopment-lures-commonwealth-bank-away-from-western-sydney-20151112-gkxjvs.html">selling public assets</a> have direct impacts on the existence of “the urban” in Sydney.</p>
<p>This agenda limits the capacity of Sydneysiders to engage with their city in diverse, improvised or alternative ways. This is despite government claims that it addresses imbalances and inequities between the centre and the rest of the city in terms of spatial advantage, job opportunities, public spending and services. </p>
<h2>The suburbanisation of the city</h2>
<p>One of sociologist Henri Lefebvre’s enduring contributions to urban theory and practice is the notion of the <a href="http://au.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0631191887.html">“right to the city”</a>. Lefebvre was not merely advocating access to space in the city or its resources, but the right to be urban.</p>
<p>By urban, Lefebvre meant the phenomenon that emerges from the complexity, collaboration and improvisation that are possible in cities. The urban is not the product of a privileged core. Rather, it is a decentralised network of diverse communities, practices and places that give rise to cities’ convivial and inclusive potential.</p>
<p>While the government’s <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2016/s4425229.htm">lockout laws</a> have attracted <a href="https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2016/march/1456750800/richard-cooke/boomer-supremacy">national</a> and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/may/28/australia-dumbest-nation-tyler-brule-nanny-state">international</a> attention for their deleterious effect on urban areas, they are merely the <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-lockouts-sydney-needs-to-become-a-more-inclusive-city-55821">most visible</a> of a raft of anti-urban policies. The privatisation of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=552&v=KsKkBId2_gQ">public housing in Millers Point</a> and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/waterloo-chosen-over-sydney-university-as-site-for-new-metro-train-station-20151215-gloiu2.html">urban renewal plans for Waterloo</a>, which include demolishing public housing and relocating 4000 tenants, are detrimental to the <a href="http://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/the-point-with-stan-grant/article/2016/03/09/inner-sydneys-aboriginal-community-fear-they-are-being-pushed-out-white-hipsters">social and cultural mix of the urban</a>. </p>
<p>Globally, the pattern is a familiar one. Redeveloped or new housing and commerce are targeted at more affluent investors and consumers. Areas that were urban in their social and cultural mix become increasingly homogeneous.</p>
<p>Some commentators refer to these outcomes as gentrification. However, inner-city areas have already undergone varying degrees of gentrification. Usually this is triggered by first-wave gentrifiers, such as artists, who value urban attributes. </p>
<p>One pleasure of the urban is spontaneous encounters and experiences with difference. The sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has called this “mixophilia”.</p>
<p>Historically, the suburbs have offered a refuge for the “mixophobic”. In these places, monoculturalism is a retreat from difference. The current urban development and transformation, at the behest of state government bodies such as Urban Growth, is the suburbanisation of urban areas.</p>
<h2>Regulating flows in the city</h2>
<p>City governance, design and planning are largely concerned with regulating the movement of people, goods, ideas and capital. Globally, this increasingly involves the facilitation of flows that support neoliberal state and corporate agendas, and the blocking of flows that do not.</p>
<p>One stated rationale for WestConnex, a project involving an unprecedented transfer of public funds (<a href="https://theconversation.com/big-road-projects-dont-really-save-time-or-boost-productivity-21560">A$18 billion and rising</a>) to the private sector, is increased flows to and from the city centre. </p>
<p>In response to the project’s critics, the Baird government has relied on crude rhetoric which insists it is tackling the geographic and social division between an inner city populated by “cultural elites” and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/roads-minister-duncan-gay-chattering-classes-are-more-of-a-pollution-risk-than-trucks-20150519-gh51w3.html">“chattering classes”</a> and an <a href="http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/fairgowest/fair-go-for-the-west-the-daily-telegraphs-campaign-leads-to-big-commitments-from-premier-mike-baird/news-story/a771a7e3453527263696e1e3f72e55b1">under-served wider populace</a>.</p>
<p>Postcode should not determine access to resources in the city. Yet Westconnex is the product of an anti-urban imagination that re-iterates the single central core, rather than multiple localised urban centres. Government support for the Commonwealth Bank’s move to the newly privatised <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/mike-bairds-lightrail-boost-for-western-sydney-parramatta-cbd/news-story/5820f37e7c986e1ec96d93e260cc3fb2">Australian Technology Park in Redfern</a>, instead of to Parramatta as previously planned, reinforces that view.</p>
<p>Combined with restrictive and punitive measures that <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/mar/11/i-am-terrified-of-riding-on-sydney-roads-nsw-cyclists-on-new-road-rules">deter cycling</a> and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/proposed-opal-fare-increases-to-hit-longdistance-commuters-hardest-20160210-gmqolv.html">proposed steep rises in public transport fares</a>, WestConnex limits Sydneysiders’ choices for mobility around the city. It consolidates the car as a dominant mode of transportation. </p>
<p>Unlike public transport and cycling, the car seals us off from encounters with others. It is the least urban form of transport.</p>
<p>The Baird government’s policy agenda for Sydney denies the right to the city, both as the right to be urban and the right to a city that is urban. It confirms Lefebvre’s position that those who manage cities devise and implement regulatory frameworks and infrastructure that are frequently – and paradoxically – detrimental to the emergence of the urban.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55754/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Seale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The NSW government agenda would deny the ‘right to the city’, that network of diverse communities, practices and places which give rise to the convivial and inclusive potential of cities.Kirsten Seale, Adjunct Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.