Venues
Nightclub insurance
Wherever in Australia you run a nightclub, dance club or late-night live music venue, our brokers can find you insurance quotes.
01
Who can work your door
Crowd controllers are the guards who manage your queue and keep order inside. New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland each license them, and there's no single national rule on how many you need.
- 1
New South Wales
Door staff are licensed under Class 1A, the class for unarmed guarding and crowd control. Each guard either holds a master licence or works for a business that has one.
- 2
Victoria
Where your liquor licence requires crowd controllers, the standard condition is two of them for 100 customers or fewer. Add one more for each extra 100, or part of 100. Keep a register of them, and show it to an inspector who asks.
- 3
Queensland
Crowd controllers need a Class 1 security provider licence. Putting someone on the door without one can bring a fine of up to $17,270 for a first offence.
- 4
Western Australia
The regulator generally expects nightclubs, and any venue open after 1am, to match Victoria's standard number of crowd controllers.
02
Cameras, scanners and the incident register
Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales each have one of these rules, and each one applies only to some venues.
CCTV in Victoria
If CCTV is written into your licence, the cameras have to record every entrance, bar and dance floor. The footage must be kept for at least four weeks.
ID scanners in Queensland
In a safe night precinct, one of Queensland's main nightlife areas, a nightclub permanently approved to open past midnight must scan ID unless it's exempt. The scanner has to be networked, meaning it checks each patron against a list of people banned by venues, police and the courts. Only a licensed crowd controller may remove a banned patron.
Incident register in New South Wales
If your nightclub counts as a late trading venue, you need an incident register, where any incidents at the venue are logged.
03
Covers a nightclub can ask about
If someone crushed at the bar or hurt in a fall on the stairs blames the club, you'd turn to your public liability insurance.
The sound system, lights, booths and bars you own, plus the stock behind them.
Cash stolen in a break-in, plus new glass for a front door or window that's been smashed.
The nights of trade you lose, plus certain bills that don't stop, for a set period while the club is shut.
Management liability, if someone sues a director or manager over a decision that cost them.
Nightclub owners ask
It depends on the state. In New South Wales it's an on-premises licence, and South Australia says its on premises licence may suit a nightclub. Give your broker the licence type exactly as it's printed on your certificate.
Yes. Nightclubs are among the venues Pub Insurance was set up for. Choose Nightclub as your venue type on the form.
