Hobart’s Town Hall Underground has been officially approved as a venue for music raves, with the city council saying it wants to give young people a safe, regulated space rather than push events into illegal venues.
The space, known as The Underground, sits beneath the historic Hobart Town Hall on Elizabeth Street, opposite Franklin Square.
The move follows multiple illegal raves across the capital, including one inside the Hobart Rivulet tunnels and another in Bidencopes Lane, both of which were shut down by police.
The City of Hobart told Pulse it signed off on a rave held in the underground space on Saturday, May 16.
Psy On Events ran the event and describes itself on Facebook as “the notorious underground rave community event organisation”.
Ben Artup, the council’s director of community and economic development, said the venue was formally booked and approved under a council trial.
“This approval was granted under the City Venues Policy as part of a controlled, low-capacity trial designed to support emerging creative activity in a regulated and managed environment,” Artup said.
“The intent is to provide an appropriate, supervised setting for such events, rather than having them occur unregulated elsewhere.”
Artup said events in the space must meet strict conditions covering risk management, security and stakeholder engagement, with hirers required to hold appropriate insurance and comply with safety and operational controls.
The Town Hall Underground is available for hire by the community through an application process, with fees and charges applying.
Tasmania Police has backed the council’s approach, with Inspector Brenda Orr saying they supported the use of managed venues for music events.
“Tasmania Police encourages young people and organisers of events such as the recent weekend rave to continue to work co-operatively with local authorities in finding suitable venues and legal ways to enjoy their music and larger social gatherings,” Orr said.
The council said it had been working with organisers and other stakeholders to ensure events of this kind could be held safely in the city.
