When foreign travellers visiting our shores ruminate the national characteristics of Australia, drinking and partying is often featured towards the top of the list. This observation seems accurate as many of us enjoy the chaotic auditorium that is the nightlife scene and the boozing that goes along with it. There’s no denying that the foggy experience of relinquishing our inhibitions encourages us to frequent our favourite nightspots in what is an overwhelmingly enjoyable routine.
However, the club scene has an ugly side that although we are all quite well aware of doesn’t seem to dampen our enthusiasm for blowing off steam on a Friday or Saturday night. With some of Australia’s most popular nightspots also being among the most dangerous, the line between a great night out and a trip to the emergency ward remains thin.
In NSW, some of the most popular clubs also account for the roughest and are responsible for the highest recorded instances of violence. In 2012, the popular Mean Fiddler in Rouse Hill saw 62 assaults with Northis and Fusion in Cronulla seeing 20 and 22 respectively. Fannys in Newcastle saw 29 instances of assault and the Imperial Hotel in Tamsworth saw 23. Surprisingly the gloriously seedy underworld of Kings Cross faired much safer with not one of its drinking establishments appearing in the top 5 of the most dangerous bars or clubs in the state.
Head west for 4000 km and you’ll find a similar story in Northbridge. This inner-city suburb of Perth features six venues that last year accounted for 64% of violent or unsociable incidents in the entire city. All are very popular. Black Betty’s Nightclub had 545 total incidents, Aberdeen Hotel had 495 and The Paramount Nightclub had 403. Such venues have incured restrictions including a lockout time, switching from glass to plastic cups and a limit on what can be bought from the bar in a single serving. With many of the restrictions averted due to slick legal manoeuvring on the behalf of the drinking establishments, these areas remain dangerous areas of the city. And despite their edgy reputations, revellers still enjoy visiting them.
Victoria paints a similar story. In 2012, researchers interviewed more than 1300 Melbournians for the Perceptions of Safety report. The report found that 47% of respondents thought King Street was the scariest nightspot, 19% thought Flinders Street was, while 18% were most concerned with Swanston Street. 51% were worried about public drunkenness, 30% about loitering gangs and 20% were most afraid of the possibility of physical confrontation. From Sydney to Perth to Melbourne, Australians are very much aware of the dangers of clubbing.
The information paints a revealing picture of the clubbing experience and what party-goers are chasing when they go out. With such potentially dangerous clubs experiencing huge numbers of visitors and overflowing waiting lines, it seems we are looking for excitement and unpredictability. Add alcohol and the raw animalistic urges of drunk men and you have a situation teetering on the edge. Remaining safe is of course always an important objective, but within the haze and liberating anarchy of a club it seems one of the most important pursuits is a crazy story to tell your friends the next day – even if it’s unlikely you won’t be able to remember it.
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