Live Music Working Group

People playing music The Live Music Working Group has been established by Council to identify and work through issues that impact on Yarra’s live music community.

At its May 2010 meeting, Council resolved to set up the eight-person working group.

One of the group’s central roles was to identify issues relating to live music in Yarra and to consider models that address similar issues in other Australian cities.

The group's recommendations, set out in the draft Live Music Working Group Action Plan, were adopted by Council for further consideration in July 2011.

docx format Live Music Working Group Action Plan 2011 (20.37kB)
pdf format Live Music Working Group Action Plan 2011 (78.30kB)

The Yarra Councillors who are currently members of the working group are Councillors Anthony Main, Dale Smedley and Amanda Stone.

The following community members are part of the working group:

Ann Polis - a Fitzroy resident who is actively involved in a number of organisations within the community, including the Neighbourhood Justice Centre and Collingwood College.
Judith Campbell - a Richmond resident who has held a long-term interest in the impact of venues on residents.
Helen Marcou - co-founder of SLAM (Save Live Music) and owner of Bakehouse Studios.
Jon Perring - board member of Contemporary Music Victoria and Fair Go For Live Music, co-owner of Yarra music venues Bar Open, Yah Yah's and the Tote.
Kiernan Hennessey and Kate Shaw were also invited by the Working Group to take part in the discussions.

Here is the Live Music Working Group Terms of Reference (45.62kB)

Yarra Live Music Working Group: meeting outcomes and recommmendations:

The working group met on five occasions between October 2010 and March 2011.
One of the principal outcomes of those meetings was the development of a draft Action Plan.

Some of the key tasks set out in the draft Action Plan include:

the creation of a Live Music Compact (an informal written agreement) that would look into the economic, regulatory and cultural factors impacting the live music industry and attempt to introduce ways for negotiating and accommodating those factors
supporting a 'help desk' for live music that would provide specialist advice on planning matters, particularly for new live music operators
reviewing Council's music in parks local law and Council's processes for managing noise and amenity complaints
developing a code of conduct for the live music industry and seek a commitment from experienced operators to train new and inexperienced operators
considering 'safe' locations for venues through the Business Land Review and re-zoning applications
advocating to the State Government to finalise and implement the Voluntary Live Music Practice Guide and release the Inner City Entertainment Precinct report.

Next Steps

Council officers will look into the feasibility of implementing each suggestion put forward in the adopted Action Plan and report back to Council in time to be considered in the 2012/13 budget process.

A further report on the progress of implementing some of the tasks is also expected to be presented to Council in early 2012.

Further information
Siu Chan
Co-ordinator - Arts and Cultural Services
9205 5045
Siu.Chan@yarracity.vic.gov.au