L05 – Operations outside of hours or extended operations

When you need a permit for this activity

You must get a permission from us to conduct certain activities that have risk of harm to human health and the environment. These are called prescribed activities and are defined in Schedule 1 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021.

Under the Regulations, you need an L05 – Operations outside of hours or extended operations permit to manage music noise from an outdoor music event:

• operating outside standard operating hours, or
• for longer than 8 hours.

Standard operating hours vary depending whether you're:

• operating an outdoor entertainment venue or
• conducting an outdoor entertainment event.

These are defined in the Regulations.

For an outdoor entertainment venue, standard operating hours are from 12 noon until 11 pm on any day.

For an outdoor entertainment event, standard operating hours are:

• from 7 am to 11 pm on Monday to Saturday
• from 9 am to 11 pm on Sunday and public holidays.

The Environment Protection Act 2017 and its subordinate legislation detail the requirements for individuals and businesses who are planning musical entertainment at an outdoor entertainment venue or event.

The L05 permit is for:

• a business that wants to hold outdoor music events, including concerts and multi-day music festivals
• a person or people in the community who want to hold outdoor events where music is part of the event, such as local community events or festivals
• businesses or people in the community who want to extend an event or concert beyond the standard operating hours.

A concert is defined in the Regulations as:

an operation at an outdoor entertainment venue or an outdoor entertainment event if the effective noise level exceeds 55dBA (or 45dBA if measured indoors) assessed as an L_Aeq* of 15 cumulative minutes at any measurement point in a noise-sensitive area at least once during a 24-hour period.

*L_Aeq is Equivalent Continuous Sound Pressure Level.

An LO5 permit can cover multiple operations or concerts.

You must apply for the L05 permit at least 45 days before your event. If you need a permit earlier, contact us.

If you want to hold more than 6 outdoor music events or concerts on the same property, you need an L06 – Conducting more than 6 outdoor concerts permit.

If you need both an L05 and L06 permit, you must apply for each permit separately.

Other noise emissions from outdoor entertainment venues and events are subject to the requirements for commercial, industrial and trade premises. For example, noise from mechanical plant or refrigeration systems and kitchens. These defined in Part 5.3 of Division 3 of the Regulations.

Learn more about Commercial, industrial and trade noise.

Permission from other regulators or authorities

Local councils may issue planning permits for land use for these venues and events. This may include specific conditions about managing noise emissions. Local councils may also issue a Places of Public Entertainment permit for sites that are regularly used for events. We recommend you contact the relevant local council to get advice about their by-laws.

You may also need to apply for a permit from a public land manager, such as Parks Victoria. They issue permits for activities – such as festivals or concerts – conducted on land they manage. For more information, see the Parks and reserves event permit application guidelines on the Parks Victoria website.

Noise from patrons at entertainment venues is only subject to regulations when it's associated with the music sources. For example, DJ announcements or patrons singing along with the music. Patron noise also needs to be managed as part of planning permits and liquor licences and in any other relevant guidelines.

Exemptions

Under some circumstances, you can apply for a permit exemption.

To find out if you can apply for an exemption, contact us.

Related activities

If you want to hold more than 6 outdoor music events or concerts on the same property, you need an L06 – Conducting more than 6 outdoor concerts permit.

Information to include in your application

When you submit your application in the portal, it must include certain information and supporting evidence. To learn more, visit Apply for a permit.

If you're unsure of the type of permission you need, use our free permission pathway process before you start your application.

For this application, you must also provide:

• information about your event
• a noise management plan
• a close-out report when your event is complete.

Noise management plan

A noise management plan (NMP) is a document that describes how you will manage noise emitted from the venue or event.

Your plan must show us how you will ensure that any music noise will not be louder than the noise limit of 65dBA within a noise-sensitive area. This is the prescribed limit for outdoor entertainment venues and events under subregulation (91)(a) of the Noise limit and assessment protocol for the control of noise from commercial, industrial and trade premises and entertainment venues.

The limit applies when measured outdoors at a noise-sensitive area. For example, a residential area, hospital or tourist accommodation.

We need your NMP to help us assess the risk of harm to human health and the environment. It should contain:

• the name of the person or company responsible for the venue or event
• the type of entertainment and a schedule of the acts
• the dimensions and orientation of the stage
• the location of the audience
• the sound levels at the stage, front of house and the source or mixing desk and how you will monitor these
  
• the layout of the venue, including where the noise will be emitted from
  
• the location of the event, including the premises boundary, the location of noise-sensitive areas in a 5 km radius, and any relevant geographic and topographic features of the area, such as hills, water bodies or access roads
• how you will control noise levels to ensure the relevant noise limits are not exceeded – for example, the type, arrangement, location, height and direction of loudspeakers, noise barriers and other containment measures
• predicted noise levels at the nearest noise-sensitive areas, including details of your key assumptions and calculation procedures
• how noise at noise-sensitive areas will be assessed
  
• what equipment you will use to monitor noise and who will be responsible for monitoring noise
• your plan for engagement with the surrounding community, including notifications and agreements you may have made with them
• your complaints handling procedure, including the name and phone number of the contact person for the event.

An acoustic consultant can model how the sound will diminish over the distance between the speakers and the nearest noise-sensitive area. Alternatively, you can refer to Measure and analyse industry noise and music noise. This guide discusses noise calculation algorithms for predicting music noise levels.

If the configuration of your venue or event is relatively simple, you can use simplified calculations to approximate the expected noise levels. Be aware, however, that this usually does not account for effects that can affect the propagation of sound. For example:

• the direction the loudspeakers are facing
• sound reflections off walls, or
• the influence of atmospheric conditions, such as wind or temperature inversions.

Close-out report

As part of the permit conditions, you must provide a close-out report at the completion of your event. The close-out report must include:

• the results of noise monitoring that occurred during your event
• details for any complaints that were received, such as:
  • date and time of the complaint
  • investigation/s that resulted and any outcomes of the investigation/s
  • how close the complainant's property was to the event
  • the noise levels at the complainant's property
  • how the complaint was addressed.

A close-out report is important. It provides information that may be relevant to approving permits for your future activities.

As a guide, the contents of a close-out report should include the following:

• Title page – date and time of the event, author of the report and date the report was produced
• Summary – applicable policy and regulation, whether you needed and obtained a permit from us, and how the NMP was implemented, including noise controls and measurements, compliance with noise limits, complaints received and complaint resolution
• General information – a summary of the site plan, event set-up, technical personnel, instruments used, calibration of equipment, and whether you needed to make any changes from the application information
• Results – discussion of noise levels measured at sensitive locations, your compliance with policy and regulatory requirements, such as noise limits and operating times, details of how you implemented your NMP, complaints received and complaint resolution
• Appendices – for example, tabulated noise measurements at the nearest sensitive receptors, most affected dwellings, or noise-sensitive areas.

Application fee

For a list of current fees and how they're calculated, visit Fees. An extra fee may apply if we need more time than specified in the Regulations to assess your application.

If an application fee applies, we cannot assess your application until we've received and processed this fee.

In some circumstances we may reduce or waive this fee.

How long your permit is valid for

The permit is usually valid for the duration of the concerts – that is, from date A to date B.

How we assess your application

Find out how we assess your application and how long it takes.

Under regulations 28(f) and 28(g), we must also consider:

• any complaints that we or a council received about your operations or concerts in that location in the previous year
• the effective noise levels in any previous operations you conducted or concerts in that location in the previous year
• any action you intend to take to control noise emissions and to minimise their impacts
• whether it's in the public interest to grant the permit
• the number of concerts in that location in the previous year.
  

Permit conditions

Permission conditions outline the legal obligations for the permission holder. They set up a framework for risk management, record keeping and reporting.

Where a condition includes:

• the word 'placeholder', values will be populated with information that's specific to your site
• a reference to a 'figure' or 'appendix', information will be populated that's specific to your site.

'Authority' means Environment Protection Authority (EPA).

Other conditions may apply.

Apply now

Apply for an L05 – Operations outside of hours or extended operations permit in our portal.

Apply now

Manage your permit

To amend, transfer or surrender your permit, visit Manage your permission.

Guidance

Entertainment venue and outdoor event music noise guidelines