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SYDNEY’S LOCKOUT LAW COULD BE PUSHED BACK TO 3AM

Acting Premier Troy Grant says legislation could change if an official review recommends it...

New South Wales’ acting premier Troy Grant has indicated that Sydney’s 1:30am lockout law could be pushed back to 3am, if an official review recommends it.

The lockout laws, which block entry or re-entry into venues after 1:30am and ‘last drinks orders’ for anyone inside after 3am, were first introduced in February 2014. Now, former High Court judge Ian Callinan is leading a review into how effective they are.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Grant said, “Every bit of evidence I’ve seen or heard about, even in my previous experience with liquor accord arrangements, it’s not the lockouts that have the greatest impact, it’s the last drinks.

“If Callinan recommends pushing the lockouts back, I think it’s something we absolutely should do. If you’re trying to control the quantity of alcohol people consume, last drinks is most effective.”

In April, Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, proposed dropping the city’s controversial lockout laws. In a submission to the NSW Government’s review of liquor laws, she advocated loosening the city's licensing restrictions by asking for “well-managed premises” to be exempted from the 1.30am cutoff time for admission, and also asked the government to reconsider its 3am last drinks rule.

That was after a protest was organised by local lobby group Keep Sydney Open in February. You can read DJ Mag’s investigation of the lockout laws from earlier this year here.

Rob McCallum is DJ Mag’s digital news writer. Follow him on Twitter here.