Melbourne CBD entertainment venues, shops, offices and construction sites have parked plenty of complaints to the Environment Protection Authority Victoria.
Hundreds of Victorians are dobbing in rowdy licensed venues, tradies and industrial sites as they get fed up of living in the state’s loudest locations.
Melbourne’s CBD and inner suburbs aren’t the only hotspots causing headaches with outer suburban, regional and rural areas also among the state’s noisiest hotspots.
Authorities are putting those who flout excessive noise laws on notice, after the Environment Protection Authority Victoria recently dished out five-figure fines to a pub, concert organisers and even drivers.
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EPA Victoria figures show that Melbourne’s CBD topped its list of the state’s noisiest areas with 320 complaints lodged regarding entertainment venues, shops, offices and construction sites from June 2024 to May 2025.
For similar reasons, nearby Docklands had 157 grievances registered and South Yarra 133 complaints within the time frame.
And Victoria Police received 636 noise notifications for Melbourne’s CBD from January to December 2024.
However, this does not mean that members of the public made more than 630 calls to triple-0.
Rather, the data reflects how many noise-related events police were contacted about – whether they received one call or multiple calls per individual matter.
But it wasn’t actually Melbourne that topped the police list for noisy events.
The top spot was claimed by the town of Mildura with 728 incidents across last year.
However, inner Melbourne areas featuring plenty of licensed venues and shopping strips, such as Northcote (653 complaints), Collingwood (517) and Richmond (497), were among the worst offending areas as well.
Victoria Police received 636 noise notifications from Melbourne’s CBD from January to December 2024. Picture: Mark Stewart.
EPA Victoria’s executive director of operations Rachel Gualano said one third of noise reports that the agency received were passed onto local councils.
Councils and police deal with residential noise complaints, while the EPA handles commercial and industrial cases.
In the past decade, the state’s EPA has adopted a greater focus on preventing excessive noise under the Environment Protection Act 2017, including sound that poses a risk to human health.
“Over the past year, EPA has issued fines of nearly $10,000 each, conducted successful prosecutions in court with even larger fines and refused licence applications on concerns over noise at a proposed facility,” Ms Gualano said.
In April, the EPA refused waste management company Veolia’s licence development application to build a waste transfer station at its Hampton Park site for reasons including that
it would pose unacceptable risks to human health primarily from odour and noise emissions.
Veolia has appealed the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal with hearings set for August.
Construction sites and industrial premises are often the cause of noise complaints.
Melbourne-based buyers’ advocate Amy Lunardi said that residential properties near noisy sites could be valued lower than other homes in their respective areas, both by buyers and bank valuers.
“And noise can impact local prices – properties near freeways or factories will sell for less than others in quiet streets in the same suburb,” Ms Lunardi said.
The University of Melbourne’s Dr Ang Li was lead author on a 2021 study that examined the impact of environmental noise on mental health and psychological distress as reported by 31,387 Australians.
“Environmental noise might seem like a source of mere annoyance but there is robust evidence that noise exposure is a risk factor for a range of health conditions including sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular diseases, and mental health,” Dr Li said.
“People experiencing frequent noise from loud traffic, airplanes, trains or industry in their local neighbourhood had poorer mental health, with loud traffic noise being more impactful.”
Melbourne-based buyers’ advocate Amy Lunardi says that home buyers can carry out common sense checks to help figure out if they are looking to buy into a noisy area. Picture: Supplied.
The Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award senior research fellow said that moving away from frequent noise exposure was associated with improved mental health in study respondents.
“While people across all age groups can be impacted by environmental noise, children and adolescents are more sensitive to noise exposure in terms of cognitive and behavioural impacts and older adults are more vulnerable in terms of cardiovascular disease,” she added.
Victorian councils and Victoria Police are the main authorities that deal with residential noise complaints, in the state.
VICTORIA’S NOISIEST AREAS: ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY VICTORIA STATS
Suburb or town: Melbourne. Number of complaints: 320
Docklands 157
South Yarra 133
Coburg 119
Brunswick 116
Eaglehawk 108
Airport West 105
Preston 97
Warrnambool 97
Elaine 92
Source: EPA Victoria, June 2024 to May 2025.
Construction sites were a source of noise complaints to the EPA in areas including Docklands, South Yarra, Coburg, Brunswick, Eaglehawk and Airport West.
VICTORIA’S NOISIEST AREAS: VICTORIA POLICE STATS
Suburb or town: Mildura. Number of complaints: 728
Northcote 653
Melbourne 636
Tarneit 525
Collingwood 517
Richmond 497
North Melbourne 440
Reservoir 432
Shepparton 383
Frankston 377
Source: Victoria Police, January to December 2024. Data is for unique events (not individual calls) for noise complaint events.
Indoor and outdoor entertainment venues were also a major reason why many Victorians contacted the authorities.
HOW HOME BUYERS CAN TRY TO AVOID NOISY NEIGHBOURHOODS
– Do your due diligence. Spend time walking around the area to see how noisy it can get.
– Ask neighbours where you want to buy about noise levels.
– Check local social media groups and community forums for noise issues, or join them to ask the question yourself.
– Research what’s nearby: for example pubs, factories, freeways, train lines or airports.
– Call the local council to ask about planning applications but be aware some projects, such as single dwelling renovations, might not require a permit.
– Buying into a building with an owners’ corporation? Look at previous meeting minutes to see if noise issues have arisen in the block.
– Be aware of big infrastructure projects slated for a suburb or town, plus their starting dates.
– Understand that many highly-populated and dense urban areas are going to involve some level of noise.
– If you’re thinking about buying close to a location that is known to emit noise, such as an airport, spend a few days in the area to see how the sound levels impact upon you.
Source: Buyers’ advocate Amy Lunardi.
The Environment Protection Authority Victoria has undertaken several noise enforcement actions in 2024 and 2025. Picture: Supplied.
EPA VICTORIA RECENT NOISE ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
August, 2024: A California Gully man was issued a $1100 fine for having an excessively noisy vehicle.
Police reported the man’s Holden sedan to the EPA Victoria but he failed to have the car tested, make any necessary repairs and produce a certificate of compliance by June 26, 2023.
The motorist then failed to appear in the Bendigo Magistrate’s Court when the case came up last year.
Unluckily for the driver, he was fined $2500 and ordered to pay $502 in court costs.
October, 2024: The EPA and Victoria Police teamed up for an operation across two nights in Mildura.
Nine vehicles were found to be excessively loud due to having non-permitted exhaust modifications.
The vehicles’ owners received noise testing notices and faced fines of up to $1000 each.
When looking to buy a home located near a factory or industrial area, it’s advisable to check out how much noise the business or neighbourhood emits across 24 hours.
December, 2024: A pub at Traralgon and its company director were convicted and fined $15,000 each after complaints of excessive noise.
The hotel was charged after the EPA repeatedly gave operators advice on how to address the noise, issued a prohibition notice and used electronic surveillance to monitor the matter.
March, 2025: A $9880 fine was handed down to the organiser of a New Year’s Eve concert in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
The organiser failed to comply with a deadline which required them to report to the EPA about how they had planned to mitigate excessive noise levels at the event and manage any related complaints.
Want to report noise? Details: epa.vic.gov.au/report-noise
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