The new policy explains the strategic driver for events in Boroondara, what we’re wanting to achieve, our criteria and requirements and decision-making processes.

Our outdoor events policy aims to foster:

• Vibrant places and spaces – events activate public spaces and transform our parks, streets, roads and civic areas into lively hubs of activity.
• A prosperous experience economy – events attract visitors, increase foot traffic and drive spending with local businesses.
• Social and community connection and celebration – events bring people together to celebrate shared values, cultural diversity and local achievements.
• Arts, cultural and recreational development – events showcase creative talent, support artistic expression and ensure broad access to diverse and high-quality experiences.

When staging outdoor events, there will sometimes be trade-offs between community connection, cultural and economic development opportunities, and short-term amenity impacts. Creating a clear policy promotes transparency and consistency for how we’ll navigate these situations.

The draft policy also includes key practical considerations to ensure organisers deliver safe and successful outdoor events. We’ll consider:

• Amenity and access – balancing local amenity impacts and competing demands for public space with the broader benefits described above.
• Suitability and scalable support – commercial events will generally be subject to full cost recovery for Council, while community events may access resources, advice, grants and fee waivers where eligible.
• Environmental sustainability – events must seek to minimise waste, be climate conscious, employ circular economy practices, avoid single-use plastics and comply with our sustainability guidelines.
• Safety and risk – events must meet relevant legal, public health, safety and risk management requirements.
• Customer promise – our promise to customers means we’ll be helpful and friendly, respond promptly and follow-up, and make it easy for customers at every step. We’ll continue to evaluate how we support outdoor events to support this principle.

We want to deliver an improved permit process for event organisers, better coordination of Council services and improved management of events in Boroondara. Updates to the Outdoor Event Policy, Event Permit Guidelines and fees and changes could include:

• definitions of event sizes and types
• pricing and eligibility for fees and charges
• strategic and amenity objectives
• timeframes for applications
• event resources and training we offer community event organisers.

Several elements of our policy and guidelines won’t change due to current legislation and public safety obligations on Council and organisers of outdoor events on Council controlled land. This includes:

• meeting requirements from the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Council’s Risk Framework (PDF)
• complying with EPA guidelines when events have amplified or loud music
• complying with the Victorian Child Safe Standards (for events with minors) and the Child Safety Act
• meeting legal obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act to ensure people with disabilities are not disadvantaged in accessing a service or event
• ensuring appropriate insurance and requiring event organisers to engage a qualified engineer or contractor to inspect amusement rides and inflatables
• requiring road closure inspections for events to monitor approved traffic plan implementation and public safety.

This policy doesn’t apply to activities below that are covered by our Footpath Trading Guidelines (PDF), Amenity Local Law (PDF) and Street Party Policy:

• licensed and/or organised sport
• filming
• balloon launches
• residential street parties
• busking
• promotional stalls and fundraising activities.

Other exemptions include:

• Sporting or market events run regularly by clubs or organisations with an existing leasing arrangement with Council.
• Events held inside Council-owned buildings including halls and community centres.
• Private celebrations involving less than 50 participants that do not require any external hire equipment or food/beverage providers.