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Criminal Justice, Risk and the Revolt against Uncertainty pp 191–215Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Locking-Out Uncertainty: Conflict and Risk in Sydney’s Night-Time Economy

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Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society ((PSRCS))

Abstract

This chapter considers the tension between risk, pleasure, and uncertainty in the context of Sydney nightlife. Specifically, it tracks the New South Wales (NSW) government’s recasting of a night-time economy based on neoliberal market freedoms, individual self-regulation, and the promise of a civilized drinking culture to one where danger and risk were to be managed through illiberal ‘lockouts’ and draconian legal deterrents. Under these ‘lockout laws’, the relationship between alcohol consumption and violence has been rendered self-evident, with dangerous groups and their drinking cultures managed through a new level of state intervention. However, for many, the regulation of uncertainty also meant the end of fun and excitement. The ongoing conflict over the regulation of Sydney’s nightlife explored in the chapter offers a snapshot of attempts to manage uncertainty through risk narratives and the implications of this regulation.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For a study of types of homicide related to Australian nightlife, and the location of this fatal violence across inner city, suburban, regional, and small town settings, see Tomsen (2018).

  2. 2.

    The ‘lockout laws’ are actually just one (albeit major) part of a much broader suite of regulatory controls implemented as part of the Sydney CBD Entertainment Precinct Plan of Management, which introduced 1.30 am ‘lockouts’ and 3:00 am cessation of service in two designated nightlife ‘zones’ in the city (Kings Cross and Sydney CBD); a state-wide 10 pm closing time for all bottle shops and liquor stores; a mandatory minimum eight-year gaol sentence for ‘one punch’ alcohol-related assaults; an increase in the maximum sentence to 25 years for the illegal supply and possession of steroids; increased police fines for offensive language, behavior, and drunk and disorderly conduct; new police powers to conduct drug and alcohol testing in cases where they suspect an offender has committed an alcohol- or drug-fueled assault; an extension of the liquor license freeze in the Sydney CBD and key urban nightlife precincts; the removal of voluntary intoxication as a mitigating factor in judicial sentencing; the introduction of drink restrictions for all venues (including no shots, no doubles, limitations on number of drinks purchased); a ban on outlaw motorcycle gang colors in the designated city precincts; the introduction of restrictions on drink promotions encouraging ‘high-risk drinks’; the banning of people seen drinking in alcohol-free zones from entry into venues inside the designated precincts; and a range of other rules and policies around responsible service of alcohol guidelines, staff and recording of violent incidents inside licensed venues.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Law School, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia

    Murray Lee

  2. Western Sydney University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Stephen Tomsen

  3. Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Phillip Wadds

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  1. Murray Lee
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  2. Stephen Tomsen
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  3. Phillip Wadds
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Correspondence to Murray Lee .

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  1. Institute of Criminology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    John Pratt  & Jordan Anderson  & 

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Lee, M., Tomsen, S., Wadds, P. (2020). Locking-Out Uncertainty: Conflict and Risk in Sydney’s Night-Time Economy. In: Pratt, J., Anderson, J. (eds) Criminal Justice, Risk and the Revolt against Uncertainty. Palgrave Studies in Risk, Crime and Society. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37948-3_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37948-3_9

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