[category]
[title]
Good news, gig-goers: the future of live music in New South Wales just got a little brighter. The Minns Labor Government has passed the Contemporary Music Act 2026, introducing new protections for music venues, concerts and music festivals across the state.
This legislation is part of the NSW Government’s ten-year contemporary music strategy and aims to make it easier for venues to host live music, while giving local artists and the industry more support.
Among the changes is a new three-tier scheme to recognise music venues as ‘dedicated’, ‘significant’ and ‘live music’. It could unlock government grants and extended trading hours. Concert organisers will also have more freedom to book local acts without automatically triggering the rules that apply to large-scale music festivals.
Says Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham, “This legislation provides vital protections for our music industry, an industry which was smashed by lockouts, lockdowns and overregulation. It demonstrates the importance of live music to the economy... Important and common-sense changes, like updating the definition of concerts so smaller events aren’t wrongly classified as large scale music festivals and slugged with more red tape, will encourage more live music programming at events across the state, which leads to more jobs for local artists and more live music for fans.”
The new laws will also introduce a fairer way of measuring noise at outdoor events, offer free mediation for disputes involving recognised music venues and prevent government agencies and councils from making decisions about live music based solely on its genre.
Given that we live in an age where AI is threatening all creative industries, the Act also formally recognises the importance of human creativity and gives the NSW Government a role in advocating for artists, performers, managers and copyright holders as new technologies emerge.
Lets hope the new laws now make it easier for venues in Sydney and across NSW to put on gigs, for local artists to be heard and for music lovers to discover their next favourite band.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Sydney newsletter for more news, things to do and travel inspo, straight to your inbox.