Have your say on Sydney's lockout laws

Formal submissions to the official review of Sydney's lockout laws are now being taken, after the NSW government announced who will chair the process.

You can have your say on whether the laws, which have strangled the city's clubbing and live music scene with 1.30am lockouts and 3am last drinks since February 2014, should remain or be overhauled in favour of a fairer and more effective approach to street violence by sending through an email.

Former High Court Justice Ian Callinan will lead the "independent, evidence-based" review, which will assess the effectiveness of the laws in Sydney, as well as the statewide ban on the sale of takeaway alcohol past 10pm. The process will use data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research relating to "alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour" and information provided by community and business stakeholders.

But there won't be any answers anytime soon. The review's findings and recommendations will be submitted in August. The government will then consider the report before providing a response later this year.

Attempting to water down Premier Mike Baird's comments that "it is going to take a lot for me to change my mind on a policy that is so clearly improving this city," after they did not go down too well with the public, Deputy Premier Tony Grant declared, "I want to make it clear it does not have a foregone conclusion – it will be guided by the evidence and the experiences of the people of Sydney and NSW."

While it's obvious the government is pretty damn comfortable with the laws just the way they are, it definitely isn't going to give in unless the pressure continues. So, if you want to continue turning the heat up on Baird and his mates, you can make sure your opinion is taken into account by emailing: [email protected]. More details on the review process can be found here.

Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Online News Editor, follow him on Twitter here.