Government 'asks' exempt Sydney venues to keep lockouts

There was good news last week when it was revealed a number of Sydney venues had been ruled exempt from the city's notorious lockout laws by the Supreme Court.

This week, it has emerged the conservative New South Wales State Government has asked those venues, including at least one live music venue, to continue to obey the restrictions despite the ruling and keep quiet if they were among those deemed exempt.

Music Feeds reports a representative of the government, which imposed the 1.30am lockout and 3am last drinks on central Sydney in February 2014, had confirmed they had asked affected venues not to speak publicly on the issue and continue to abide the laws.

The site reports the Supreme Court ruling had affected venues with a theatre license and hotels with more than 20 rooms, such as the Smoking Panda Bar at the Coronation Hotel, which brought forward the legal challenge after its initial exemption was overturned.

The Smoking Panda Bar is one venue that is serving till late in central Sydney despite the government's apparent standover tactics, trading till 5am from Wednesday till Saturday.

Oxford Art Factory is the only known music venue to be revealed as exempt from the lockout laws, but management has not commented on the issue.

The findings from the official review into the lockouts laws have been delayed because of the ruling, which the government is appealing, and are now expected in a few weeks.

Scott Carbines is Mixmag's Australian Digital Content Editor, follow him on Twitter