BREAKING: The NSW Parliament passed the Music Festivals Bill.

Late last week, we tuned into our social media channels and discovered a breaking news statement by MusicNSW:

BREAKING: In fantastic news, the NSW Parliament just passed the Music Festivals Bill. After much negotiation a Music Festivals roundtable was included as an amendment, meaning festivals will now get a seat at the table.

This is a significant win for festivals and the wider music industry in NSW and is the result of a huge industry-wide effort. MusicNSW is looking forward to working with government to make sure festivals thrive in NSW from here on in.

The music festival industry has won its battle against the NSW government over a safety licensing scheme, ahead of the busy summer season.

The government however claimed victory on Thursday as parliament voted to reinstate safety measures to promote a safer environment at music festivals by requiring organisers of high-risk festivals to comply with approved safety management plans, after they were abolished by the upper house in September following a backlash from festival organisers.

However, in this win-win situation, the government will be forced to establish a music industry roundtable, with the first to be held next month.This was included in the new laws by way of amendments secured by Labor and crossbench MPs in the Upper House. See the full bill here.

Live Performance Australia and the Australian Festival Association celebrated the outcome, after a year-long dispute with the NSW government over the drastic regulation of festivals.

Live Performance Australia’s Chief Executive, Evelyn Richardson said “Industry has been calling for meaningful consultation for more than twelve months. We’ve also been calling for the establishment of an industry roundtable where we can work together to ensure safety at music festivals. “We believe it’s important that the consultation process is set out clearly in the legislation. We thank the Parliament for supporting the industry’s call.”

Read the full statement here:

The first roundtable will be held on December 4, comprising 10 members from the festival sector and 10 government department members, including NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and Liquor & Gaming. The laws require the roundtable to be held four times a year, with at least one held at a festival site.This year's summer festival season will be reviewed in April by the roundtable, which will examine the operation of the new safety protocols.

We await the outcome of the members selected for the roundtable, and the first point of action taken by this committee.