Splendour in the Grass, one of Australia’s largest outdoor music festivals, has been thrown into chaos, with changes to terms and conditions of entry made less than two weeks out from the event.
Young ticket holders for the 2022 festival – the first held in three years due to Covid-19 – learned on Monday that if they are under the age of 18, they must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
The annual alcohol-licensed festival in Byron Bay is due to open on 22 July, and since its inception more than a decade ago, permitted 16- to 18-year-olds to attend without adult supervision.
On Monday, the festival’s organisers, Secret Sounds posted a message on social media, saying the “new rules” had been imposed by NSW police.
It is not clear whether Secret Sounds was aware of legislative changes made to the music festival licensing scheme, passed through the NSW parliament two months after the last Splendour in the Grass event in 2019.
“This is not Splendour’s decision,” the Secret Sounds post said.
“We were only informed of this late Thursday and we are very unhappy about these major changes being forced on the festival at such a late stage. We understand the impact it will have on many of our patrons.”
NSW police issued a statement on Tuesday saying: “NSW police [will] work closely with the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority and festival organisers to ensure the safety and security of all attendees at the event.”
A spokesperson for the NSW Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority told Guardian Australia the festival’s requirement is “consistent with the requirements in the Liquor Act 2007 for other licensed premises”.
“The condition for minors to be accompanied by a responsible adult was imposed by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority to address the specific safety risks for a festival of this size and type, with a patron capacity of around 50,000 and bars and other outlets selling alcohol spread throughout the festival’s grounds,” the authority said in a statement.
“To provide a safe environment for all festival-goers, it is vital that proper measures are in place to prevent minors consuming alcohol.”
Asked about the legality of making changes to the terms and conditions of entry, subsequent to the sale of tickets for an event, a NSW Fair Trading spokesperson said event organisers and consumers were bound by the terms and conditions of the ticket sale and consumer law.
“Generally, if there are subsequent changes to terms and conditions after purchase that would prevent the purchaser from attending the event, consumer protection laws should provide the impacted ticket holder to obtain redress,” they said.
“In these circumstances, NSW Fair Trading encourages the organiser to work cooperatively with affected consumers.”
Questions have been raised on social media as to why Secret Sounds, despite stating it had learned about the new rule imposed by NSW authorities last Thursday, only went public on Monday.
The company’s website said: “Those intending to offer their unwanted event and/or camping tickets for resale may do so from 12pm AEST Tuesday 26 April to 11:59pm AEST Monday 11 July 2022.”
But on Tuesday it appeared some tickets were still being offered for resale through Moshtix, which has not responded to the Guardian’s request for comment.
On 26 September 2019, all existing licences to serve alcohol under the music festival licence scheme became invalid. Festival organisers still wishing to sell alcohol had to apply for a new type of one-off liquor licence.
Underage ticket holders took to social media on Tuesday, furious that their parents or guardians are now expected to spend an additional $201 to $417 to accompany their teenage children to the festival.
Confusion reigned about how and when the rules would be applied, and suggestions were made about additional risks the new rules might pose for young concert goers, who were seeking adult “volunteers” from strangers online. A number of adult ticket holders were offering their services as “responsible adults” to minors on social media on Tuesday.
Under NSW liquor laws, a responsible adult is defined as someone who is a parent or guardian of the minor, the minor’s spouse or de facto partner, or someone standing in as the parent of the minor “for the time being”.
“I really think that it is just another way for sitg [Splendour in the Grass] to grab more money, they have tickets available still so if they can get minors to beg their parents to come is another ticket sale,” one Facebook user said.
“With 30,000+ people on sight [sic] there aren’t enough cops to police this policy,” posted another.
“Literally 1,000 of people going throw [sic] the gates. I’d ask anyone there to help you out.”
However, according to the message festival organisers posted on social media, the police presence at the 22-24 July event will not be restricted to just the points of entry.
“We want you all to be aware that police will be present at the event roaming throughout the crowd checking the underage minors or with a responsible adult,” Secret Sounds’ statement said.
“The only place you can purchase tickets for accompanying responsible adult is via the splendour resale facility where all moneys go to the previous ticket holder. Considerable fines may apply if not compliant.”
