Liquor and Gaming may impose tough laws at dance music festivals

The organiser behind the weekend music rave where a 19-year-old fatally overdosed may lose its licence to hold an Australia Day party they’re dubbing “Hardcore Til I Die”. If it goes ahead, $400 on-the-spot fines for drug possession will be issued for the first time.

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The organiser of a music festival where a teen fan died from an overdose is set to be hit with tough new licence conditions including on-the-spot fines for drug use.

Promoter Harder Styles United’s licence to operate its next festival on Australia Day is under review after the tragic death of Callum Brosnan at its Knockout Games of Destiny event last weekend.

Liquor & Gaming is investigating imposing additional and stricter licence conditions for its next event — Hardcore Til I Die at the Sydney Showgrounds on Australia Day.

Callum Brosnan sadly lost his life at Knockout Games of Destiny. Picture: Facebook

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A government source said if the event does get the go-ahead it will be the first in NSW to feature $400 on-the-spot fines for drug possession — the maximum penalty possible for offenders outside court.

At present festival-goers caught with a small amount of drugs are issued with a court attendance notice.

Police criticised the level of drug use at last Saturday’s festival at Sydney Olympic Park at which 19-year-old Brosnan and 16 others were taken to hospital with three placed in induced comas.

The tragedy comes just three months after two people died of drug overdoses at the Defqon. 1 hardstyle festival at Penrith.

Liquor & Gaming has the power to suspend the promoter’s existing licence if it does not meet strict conditions.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian will take a number of steps to improve safety at festivals this summer. Picture: AAP

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told The Daily Telegraph yesterday on-the-spot fines are just one of a number of steps her government has taken to improve safety at festivals this summer.

“We want young people to enjoy dance festivals but we also want them to be safe,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“That is why we have enacted a range of reforms, recommended by an expert panel, to improve safety at dance festivals, including much tougher penalties for the criminals who sell drugs at these events.”

Selling drugs which cause death now attracts a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail. HSU did not reply to a request for comment.