The NSW minister responsible for promoting the state's nightlife says he would "love" to see a designated entertainment zone in Newcastle "sooner rather than later".
Parliament passed laws late last year paving the way for councils such as Newcastle to designate special precincts with later trading hours and "favourable noise controls" to encourage live music.
Music and Night-time Economy Minister John Graham said during a visit to Newcastle on Tuesday that he wanted to see such a precinct in the city.
"There's been a lot of work done over a decade between the three levels of government working with the industry," he said.
"It is a more organised community with the council leading the way. It's ready for that sort of change.
"It's one of the areas I'd love to see kick off sooner rather than later."
The new laws empower councils to automatically adjust trading hours on development consents to support late-night venues inside designated entertainment precincts and require real estate developers to mitigate sound coming into new apartment buildings.
Live music venues inside entertainment precincts can open two hours later or one hour later on nights they do not offer music.
The reforms also hand sole responsibility for noise management and complaints to Liquor and Gaming NSW under the Liquor Act, effectively scrapping noise-related conditions of development consent and offensive noise pollution laws for licensed venues in the precincts.
The laws increase from three to five the number of disturbance complaints about a licensed venue needed for a formal complaint to be considered.
Mr Graham said the newly legislated "vibrancy reforms", which include longer standard trading hours on Sundays and 10am opening for small bars, had boosted the Newcastle hospitality industry already.
"The feedback in the 24 hours I've been here has been really strong from venue operators that those are helping and are helping boost confidence here in Newcastle.
"So I think that's great news already, but we can go further."
The government last year removed Newcastle's so-called lockout laws to stimulate the industry.
The executive director of the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Jackie Fitzgerald, told the Newcastle Herald last week that politicians must closely monitor crime statistics in the coming years after a BOCSAR study showed the licensing restrictions had dramatically cut alcohol violence in the decade to 2019.
Mr Graham said on Tuesday that the state's new 24-hour commissioner would gather the relevant data to help decision-makers.
"We have to monitor these changes very quickly," he said.
"Things can change on the ground rapidly, and we have to pay attention to that.
"That should be a range of statistics, including crime statistics, footfall statistics, plus strong engagement with the industry and patrons after dark.
"That's one of the reasons we've rolled out the role of the 24-hour commissioner to the Hunter, to Newcastle specifically.
"One of the projects they've been charged with is assembling that data in a form which can really inform decisions down the track."
