Queensland nightlife tsar recommends liquor law overhaul

Posted Wed 29 Jul 2026 at 10:15amWed 29 Jul 2026 at 10:15amThe report, handed to government on Christmas Eve last year, recommends updating Queensland's decades-old liquor act. (ABC News: Meghna Bali )The Queensland government has already ruled out a recommendation made by its night-life tsar to change holiday trading hours for licensed venues. The Moonside report by the state's first nightlife commissioner, John "JC" Collins, was released today. The former Powderfinger bassist has been tasked with reinvigorating the sector ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.He has recommended the state review its liquor laws — including restrictions on Christmas and Easter and late-night trading — and how it handles noise complaints. Collins said the state was "behind" in its regulations and put too much of a burden on venues. "For too long the narrative has been the nightlife is a nuisance, and been treated that way," he said. Former Powderfinger bassist John "JC" Collins has been tasked with reinvigorating the state's nightlife ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. (ABC News: Liz Pickering)The report, handed to government late last year, recommends updating Queensland's decades-old liquor act, which restricts alcohol sales on Good Friday and Christmas Day and limits venues to six extended trading hours a year. Youth Minister Sam O'Connor said changes to Christmas and Easter trading were off the table. "We need to drive every day of the year, not just one particular day of trade," he said. "It's usually the only day for those businesses where their hospitality workers will know that everyone won't be working at the same time, so you can have those staff get-togethers."The review also recommends the government revises "outdated" sound regulations, which "unfairly penalise venues", and change the way sound is measured to "better balance community expectations with venue operations". If adopted, five separate households would have to complain before compliance action was taken. Currently, a single noise complaint can trigger intervention. 'We have to be open after 8:30'The report also looks at how to encourage more eateries to open later. This is not limited by regulations, but by people's behaviour, Collins said. "Queenslanders are first up and first to bed, and that’s ok, but we’ve got to try to make the framework that gets people having dining experiences after 8 o’clock," he said. "If we’re going to invite the world here, we have to be open after 8:30."