A prominent health lobby group and two alcohol research bodies have questioned the effectiveness of the 1.30am lockout in Sydney, instead suggesting it is 3am closures that reduce violence.
The Australian Drug Foundation has told an independent review into the controversial alcohol restrictions in Sydney that while it supports the 3am closing time in Kings Cross and the CBD, more research was needed on the value of preventing new customers from entering bars at 1.30am.
"While much public attention has focused on the 'lockout' component of the package of measures, the evidence from the Sydney intervention and similar interventions in Newcastle and Surfers Paradise suggest it may be the reduction in trading hours (i.e. closure at 3.00am) that has been particularly valuable, rather than the lockout that takes effect at 1.30am," the Australian Drug Foundation submission said.
The foundation said that when lockouts have been introduced as a standalone measure elsewhere, they don't work.
The ADF is a non-government lobby group that argues Australia has a problem with its drinking culture, and supports government policies that restrict alcohol advertising and alcohol sales restrictions.
The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW has also questioned the lockout, while supporting 3am closures.
"There is little rigorous evidence about the effectiveness of lock-outs," the centre says in its submission.
If changes are made to the package of alcohol restrictions in Sydney, the centre suggested the government remove one measure at a time to assess the impact on violence.
The National Drug Research Institute at Curtin University said: "The research evidence does not support the use of lockouts."
It said the Newcastle experience, often cited as an example of the effectiveness of lockout laws, only shows the usefulness of a suite of measures that restrict alcohol availability.
The Callinan review into NSW liquor laws has received 1800 submissions, many of which were made public on Friday.
The high number of individual submissions reveal the public divide in the lockout debate. Many police officers, doctors and Kings Cross residents have written in support of the laws, while musicians, hospitality workers and young people who like to stay up late have condemned the impact on the entertainment industry.
The Committee for Sydney think-tank said there was now an opportunity to shape Sydney's night-time economy without persisting with the lockout laws in their current form.
The Committee, which until recently was headed by Lucy Turnbull, said there are more people living in the inner city, these residents are more likely to be Asian or "global talent" from Europe and the US, and who were accustomed to sophisticated night-time entertainment.
It wants Sydney to diversify its night-time offering "by encouraging more varied evening and night-time activities in the city, beyond drinking", arguing this will improve safety.
The Committee said extending retail trading hours beyond Thursday evening, later restaurant openings, extended museum and gallery opening times and more live music would bring a more diverse "twilight dweller" to the city, including families.
The Sydney Business Chamber said it wants the government to consider a trial of exemptions to the 1.30am lockout and allowing changes to the 3am last drinks.
The measures were introduced by the O'Farrell government in 2014 in response to the deaths of two teenagers in Kings Cross and concern among police and medical workers over the impact of alcohol-fuelled violence.
