Brisbane noise complaints: Music, animals, construction work the main issues for residents

Brisbane musicians say they have “lost gigs” over noise complaints from residents that are putting entertainment venues in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, as new data reveals the suburbs with the worst rates of racket.

Brisbane musicians say they have “lost gigs” over noise complaints near entertainment venues as new data reveals the suburbs with the worst rates of racket.

Data compiled from Brisbane City Council showed there had been an increase in noise complaints with 7128 in 2023 compared to 6924 in 2022 and 7077 in 2021.

The top suburbs were Fortitude Valley, West End, Bracken Ridge, Coorparoo and Wynnum.

In 2022-23, the Department of Liquor, Gaming and Fair Trading undertook 77 investigations relating to unreasonable noise at Queensland venues which resulted in 34 warnings and six infringement notices being issues.

Jazz musician Mandi Geary said the complaints had worsened over the years.

“I’ve personally lost several gigs because some venues in West End – last year – were too scared to put on live music due to resident complaints,” Ms Geary said.

“I know several other bands who also lost gigs for the same reason.”

Ms Geary said venues had made bands play less than 75 decibels because they would risk getting a fine.

Revellers out on a Saturday night in Fortitude Valley. File picture: Peter Wallis

“To put that in perspective 75 decibels is just above normal conversation levels in a normal room (not a busy venue),” she said.

“My band were at various points paranoid about playing the gigs there because we didn’t want the venue to keep getting fines – the fines were in the vicinity of 4 times as much as we were getting paid for the gig.

“We’d literally have a decibel reader at every gig in front of us so we could measure the sound levels.”

Ms Geary said Brisbane should follow in Sydney’s footsteps of making it harder for venues to shut down.

“I’ve witnessed musicians – colleagues and myself – lose gigs due to noise complaints time and again over the past few years,” she said.

“I’m not one to normally beat the protest drum – other than focusing on singing in my band and organising shows I am a low-key kind of person, but watching this injustice occur in my local suburb time and time again was heartbreaking.

“Perhaps Brisbane will follow in Sydney’s footsteps and decrease the noise complainers in cultural suburbs cos it’s absolute stupidity to move to a suburb a street or a couple blocks away from live music venues and then complain there’s too much noise.

“I mean what are these people thinking?”

The Zoo, Fortitude Valley, closed at the beginning of May. Photo: Cat Clarke

A Department of Justice and Attorney-General spokeswoman said the government was not currently considering any changes to noise restrictions for licensed venues.

“Under Queensland liquor laws, venues can host live music or other entertainment if they have the relevant noise conditions or variations on their liquor licence,” she said.

“Noise that negatively impacts local residents and businesses may be considered unreasonable if it exceeds the noise limit prescribed by regulation or contravenes a compliance order or condition of a venue’s liquor licence.

“When investigating complaints about noise, we prioritise education and collaboration, working with licensees and complainants to resolve the issue.”

Data from Brisbane City Council showed the main reasons for noise complaints were animals followed by builders working out of hours, regulated devices and being close to an entertainment venue/event.

In the Fortitude Valley, the main reason was entertainment venue/event noise, in West End the main reason was builders working out of hours and in Coorparoo, Wynnum and Bracken Ridge it was animal noise.

Animal noise was often the main complaint in outlying suburbs.

Brisbane City Council chair of city standards Kim Marx said information on who to contact for specific complaints could be found on the Brisbane City Council website.

“If residents are encountering a noisy neighbour, we encourage them to have a chat directly and see if a solution can be reached,” she said.