Victoria’s police force will charge more to patrol major events, such as AFL matches, the Australian Open, the Grand Prix and music festivals, under its biggest overhaul of fees in more than a decade.
Under the changes, which came into effect on 1 January, police can charge for planning major events and have increased the cost of using police animals, aircraft and drones, as well as services such as fingerprinting and background checks.
Organisers of major community events will be slugged with a $1,372 planning fee, while music, motor and horse racing events will be charged $686. An extra $343 will be charged for each additional day of an event.
Marquee sports matches will be charged $686 for planning and regular games $343.
Police will also charge event operators $39.20 an hour for the use of a police dog, $65.30 for a horse, $147 an hour for a drone and $440 for its anti-drone technology, which prevents unknown drones from operating in the sky above events.
The use of a rotary helicopter by police, meanwhile, will set back organisers $10,217 an hour.
Victoria police will also increase its charges for a sworn affidavit and restitution for false reports.
It comes after the force increased the cost of officers at private events by about 20% in mid-2024.
A Victoria police spokesperson said the overhaul of user-pay fees was designed to stop taxpayers from footing the bill for private events.
“This is the first time in 10 years Victoria police has conducted a thorough review of its fees and charges,” the spokesperson said on Tuesday, noting previous increases had been indexed annually.
“The changes will ensure taxpayers aren’t unfairly subsidising additional police attendance at commercial events where organisers stand to make a profit. All fees and charges are designed to help recover Victoria police’s costs only.”
They said police did not charge for resources deployed during an “unforeseen emergency at events”, and it will be able to waive or reduce fees for charity events.
During a consultation in 2023, the Department of Justice and Community Safety said police were only deployed at events where there was a “demonstrable operational risk” that could not be mitigated by organisers or when there was a community or government expectation of their presence.
It said the police chief commissioner also had the power to waive fees “in cases where costs may threaten an event’s financial viability”.
Several groups, including the Australian Festival Association, Midsumma festival, TEG Live and Tennis Australia, made submissions during the consultation, in which they expressed concerns the fees would “make events less financially viable and may lead to fewer events or higher ticket prices”.
But the department stressed the fees remained lower than those in New South Wales, where police in 2023 were accused of “price gouging” and threatening the viability of music festivals due to their costs.
