The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has refuted claims by the queer DJ collective House of Mince that their October long weekend party at White Bay Power Station was labelled high-risk, a classification the collective had cited as one of the reasons for its relocation.
On Friday, House of Mince cancelled their “Love come set me free” event at the former coal-fired power station and moved it to a new venue in Ultimo. They cited various reasons for the move, including costs associated with being labelled a “subject event” – a classification that designates it as high-risk, requiring an approved safety management plan under NSW legislation.
“It is with heavy hearts that we announce we will no longer be able to go ahead with the event at White Bay Power Station. This was not a decision made lightly,” House of Mince and Bad Dog, its event partner, said at the time.
The apology stated that, as planning progressed, it became increasingly clear that staging the event “presented challenges far beyond what we could have anticipated” and that an added issue was the event’s designation as a “subject event”.
“Being classified as a ‘Subject Event’ under NSW legislation just felt wrong,” House of Mince said.
“We are not a high risk event but have been classified as such due to the capacity. The forced ‘user pay’ payment for Police and all the extra compliance costs made it financially impossible to put on an event like this in the amount of time available.”
The NSW Music Festivals Act 2019, introduced following several drug-related deaths at festivals, refers to high-risk events deemed “subject events” by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. These festivals must submit a safety plan; if not approved, the event is classified as a “subject event”, which comes with increased costs.
However, the NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) told Gay Sydney News it “did not make any designation” for the House of Mince event because “the Authority received no application from event organisers”.
When approached about this by Gay Sydney News, one of House of Mince’s organisers said, “We’ve said everything we needed to say in our statement” and directed us towards the contacts for Placemaking NSW, the government agency responsible for managing White Bay Power Station.
A spokesperson for Placemaking NSW said it had no role in the event’s supposed designation, adding that it had offered a support package to help facilitate the event. “We hope to work with House of Mince and [Bad] Dog for a future event at White Bay Power Station,” the spokesperson said.
Once an event is labelled a “subject event”, significant costs follow due to the increased presence of police and first aid responders. Under the current system, a single NSW Police officer costs $147.60 per hour, meaning one officer would cost nearly $900 for a six-hour event.
Currently, event organisers have no way of knowing the exact police costs for their event in advance. Although the hourly rates for police services are available online, the method for calculating the total cost, including the number of officers required, is not publicly disclosed. Additionally, there is no clear information on how police staffing levels are determined for each event.
The system has been blamed for the demise of numerous music festivals in NSW, with many also claiming it has driven up prices to keep events running.
The Australian Festival Association (AFA) cited one festival where NSW Police charged $67,000 to patrol a crowd of 22,000, while in Victoria, a similar event with 30,000 attendees was charged only $7500, according to The Guardian. In Queensland, the same show cost $37,000 for a crowd of 20,000.
“The legislation which allowed festivals to be classified as ‘subject festivals’ was supposedly about making music festivals safer,” Greens MP Cate Faehrmann told Gay Sydney News.
“But the same festivals in other states are just as safe, if not more so, without the eyewatering police charges. The legislation hasn’t made festivals more safe, it’s killed them.”
Faehrmann has campaigned for change, and the Greens are calling on the Labor government to scrap the festival classification.
Change appears to be coming. The state government is reportedly set to introduce a bill to parliament as early as this week that will replace the “subject event” classification with a festival-wide stipulation that all organisers prepare a health plan.
However, the future of the “user pay” policing model remains uncertain. Faehrmann told The Sydney Morning Herald that this model is the primary concern for the viability of festivals.
Arts Minister John Graham was unavailable for comment but previously told a NSW parliamentary budget estimates hearing that the current system was out of step.
“It’s certainly of concern to me that we are so out of step with Victoria,” he said.
“It is one of the things potentially driving festivals out of NSW, and it is a tougher environment as a result.”
Eliot Hastie is a senior news producer at Channel Ten, reporting on a range of general stories, specialising in foreign affairs and LGBTQ+ stories. He’s also a reporter for Gay Sydney News, where he covers LGBTQIA+ culture, politics and nightlife. He previously helped to build and launch ausbiz, Australia's only live streaming finance news channel, where he was also an executive producer and host. He has previously worked as a finance and business journalist for publications including Fintech Business, Real Estate Business and other Momentum Media titles. Eliot holds a journalism degree from the University of Westminster and brings experience in both broadcast and digital reporting. Contact Eliot: eliot.hastie@gaysydneynews.com.au
