27 October 2026
Victoria is Australia’s live music capital. Live music plays a crucial role in our creative sector, while driving jobs and the economy.
We’re updating Victoria’s planning rules to make sure live music venues can co-exist with neighbours, balancing the need to support Victoria’s live music scene with the need to build more homes.
We’ve updated Victoria’s Planning Policy Framework so our planning system recognises the social, economic and cultural importance of live music to our community and local economies.
We’ve also created a new Live Music Overlay, which councils can use to designate an area as a place where live music is encouraged. The overlay will make sure there are no surprises for developers and residents when looking to build or buy in a live music precinct by making sure landowners have clear information upfront about nearby venues and potential noise.
Together, these changes will make sure new housing developments are protected from unreasonable noise without compromising existing and future live music venues.
This builds on the work the Environmental Protection Agency has been leading to help venues and neighbours understand the impact of music noise, how they regulate it and what venues can do to manage it.
It’s part of the Victorian Government’s commitment to support live music venues, including Creative Victoria’s 10,000 Gigs: The Victorian Gig Fund, which has funded 136 venues across the state to stage paid gigs by local artists.
Our new planning reforms will support not only the live music venues themselves, but the musicians on stage, the crews behind them, hospitality staff and local businesses.
Page last updated: 27/10/26