How SEQ teens are pulling off out-of-control parties in your home

Southeast Queensland teens are throwing wild house parties with $100 entry fees to cover overnight stays, DJs, “content creation areas” and even security. Here’s how they’re doing it.

Teens are throwing wild parties with $100 entry fees that include overnight stays, DJs, “content creation areas” and even security, with invitations spread on social media and private group chats.

A trawl of platforms including TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat has revealed an explosion of what is known as Project X party culture, which was inspired by a fictional 2012 film of the same name about a small school birthday party spiralling out of control.

It comes as The Sunday Mail can reveal the Brisbane Boys’ College students who hosted an out-of-control party at an Airbnb in East Brisbane remain enrolled at the school, with the headmaster saying no action will be taken until after an investigation takes place.

The students booked an Airbnb posing as five guests and an infant but more than 500 teenagers descended for a rave at the property, which was trashed and racked up a repair bill understood to be in the thousands.

A mower and expensive appliances were dumped in the pool of the Geelong St home. Photo: Sunrise/Channel 7.

Brisbane Boys’ College headmaster Andre Casson said that, as it was school holidays, there had been “no need” to stand any students down.

“Any decisions regarding suspension or expulsion will only be made after our investigation. This will commence next week,” he said.

A Sunday Mail investigation into teen party trends revealed Project X parties have surged on TikTok, with peak demand in the days that follow any party with significant coverage.

A post asking people to throw a “massive house party” went viral on April 9, attracting hundreds of comments from people asking for the address of the next “big” party. “I went to the Airbnb party. Best night I’ll ever experience,” one of the comments read.

The parties aren’t entirely organised on TikTok, with hosts replying to comments to ask potential attendees to move to a more “secure” platform to ensure nobody tells law enforcement.

Chat messages for Airbnb and Luxury Home parties in South East Queensland.

The address is usually only revealed in massive invitation-only group chats on both Instagram and Snapchat. In some cases, hosts even ask for a payment before they can share the address.

The host of an upcoming party south of Brisbane revealed on April 9 she went “semi-viral” after sharing the date of her party in a TikTok comment in the wake of the 500-person East Brisbane Airbnb party.

“I’ve been getting so many direct messages about this because I kind of went semi-viral under this other TikTok, but yes I am having this massive Project X house party,” the host said in the video. “Finding a venue is very difficult. I originally had a venue in the Gold Coast, it didn’t end up working out. Recently there was the 500 people Airbnb house party that just f---ed everything up with Airbnb.

“Getting an Airbnb right now is really f---ed up. Right now there’s about 110 people going. If you want to go, let me know. There is an entry fee, so people don’t f--k sh-t up.”

The original Gold Coast venue for the April party was expected to cost more than $16,000 for a two-night stay at a luxury South East Queensland property.

The Airbnb listing for the property explicitly states parties are not allowed.

The party host, who was throwing the bash for a milestone birthday, had listed the capacity as “150+” on the social media invitation.

More than 500 people are believed to have attended the East Brisbane party. Picture: Supplied.

Party hosts often demand deposits and cover costs by charging admission, with this host charging $100, meaning they would bank $15,000 to put towards costs if 150 revellers attended but they promised prospective guests a partial refund if they reached that attendance goal.

Airbnb formally banned parties in August 2020 in line with the Covid pandemic restrictions at the time and added a cap of 16 attendees at its property listings.

“Disruptive gatherings are prohibited, regardless of size,” Airbnb’s Community Disturbance Policy page reads.

The ban includes open-­invitation gatherings and covers everything from excessive noise to vandalism.

One party invitation, seen by The Sunday Mail, thanked people for payments and promised live DJs playing “party bangers”, photo and content creator zones, decorations and lighting to “set the ultimate vibe” and security guards on site.

But in some cases the address is leaked on social media either unintentionally, or intentionally.

A party planned for April 12 was organised on Snapchat before the location was leaked to TikTok.

Neighbours of the home said they feared for the safety as the party got out of control. Photo: TikTok.

“The girl didn’t mean for that many people to get invited. Her address got leaked, and she’s trying to cancel it because apparently people (are) bringing knives,” one of the comments about the upcoming party read.

Some parties are organised at the home of an unwilling participant. A TikTok made on April 10 shared information about a house party being staged later that night in Brisbane’s south.

It started to gain traction until one of the occupants of the home realised their address was the location given.

“There’s no party happening at my house thank you. Police have been notified anyone that comes here will be charged with trespassing,” the occupant of the home wrote in the comments.

Mr Casson said the “behaviours that were displayed” at the viral East Brisbane Airbnb party and the events leading up to it did not reflect the values of Brisbane Boys’ College and did not reflect the majority of its students.

“Whenever our students are involved with an incident, both good and bad, we reflect on our practices in the hope of ‘being the best at getting better’,” Mr Casson said.

East Brisbane home owner Benjamin Holt said that the behaviour that left his home trashed was not acceptable.

“The college leadership have already met to discuss how we might address this sad set of circumstances with our students to reinforce our expectations and that of the broader society.

“We are engaging with Old Collegians and other community members with this ambition.”

The owner of the Airbnb, Benjamin Holt, said his home was not a party venue and there were specific venues for that.

“It’s just not acceptable behaviour,” he said.

“You can’t just say kids will be kids because it’s not a way that people in society should behave. What gives them the right to go and just trash someone else’s house?”

A teenage boy was taken into custody on the Tuesday after the rampant party following the execution of a search warrant at his Kelvin Grove home.

A second boy, from Fig Tree Pocket, was dealt with by police on Wednesday.

Both boys were dealt with under the provisions of the Youth Justice Act.