Sydney 14 September 2026: The Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) has condemned a second large-scale NSW Police operation targeting LGBTQIA+ venues on Oxford Street in just three months, calling on the NSW Government to urgently intervene to bring policing practice into line with its own night-time economy reforms.
The operation on Saturday night targeted venues including Arq, Palms, The Beresford and Kinselas, with reports of an estimated 18–20 Police involved in the operation and further officers deployed throughout the precinct.
NSW Police described the operation as “intelligence-led”, aimed at disrupting drug supply, antisocial behaviour and other offences.
The NTIA says the operation is particularly concerning given that the industry had already raised serious concerns with the NSW Government about the previous Oxford Street operation in June.
NTIA Vice-Chair James Thorpe said it was extraordinary that the operation occurred just 24 hours after Sydney MP Alex Greenwich convened a roundtable meeting on night-time and queer culture, attended by the Minister for the Night Time Economy, 24 Hour Economy Commissioner, NTIA and industry.
“Hours later, the Police were back on Oxford Street in force,” said Thorpe.
“That is an extraordinary disconnect between the Government’s Vibrancy agenda and what is actually happening on the ground.”
In a letter sent to Ministers Graham and Catley following Friday’s roundtable, The NTIA called on the government to adopt an engagement-first licensing model, publish evidence-based criteria for Police applications against venues, appoint a dedicated Nightlife Assistant Commissioner within NSW Police, create a protected channel for reporting Police conduct, and introduce tighter criteria governing the use of drug detection dogs in licensed premises.
Thorpe said the industry fully supports Police acting on genuine intelligence about serious offending, but questioned the effectiveness and proportionality of blanket enforcement operations in nightlife precincts.
“Nobody in the night-time economy is arguing that Police should ignore serious crime or organised drug supply. Of course they shouldn’t. But there is a very important difference between intelligence-led policing and policing that simply looks intelligence-led,” said Thorpe.
“If the objective is to disrupt commercial drug supply, then Police resources should be directed at commercial supply. Searching large numbers of patrons in gay venues and producing fines for low-level possession is not the same thing as dismantling the supply chain.”
The NTIA previously raised concerns about the effectiveness of drug detection dog operations in licensed venues. NSW Police data shows that almost 95,000 searches following drug-dog indications between 2013 and 2023 resulted in no illicit drugs being found in nearly three-quarters of cases. In the June Oxford Street operation, 93 people were searched and only one person was ultimately charged with supply.
The Association says the commercial consequences of these operations are also significant.
During the June Oxford Street operation, one venue reported a 70 per cent fall in revenue on its busiest night, with impacts continuing into subsequent weeks. The NTIA says this demonstrates that policing tactics can have consequences well beyond the individual interaction between an officer and patron.
“These are legitimate businesses employing thousands of people and providing an important part of Sydney’s cultural and social infrastructure,” Thorpe said.
“When you put 20 Police officers into a gay nightclub, search patrons and disrupt trade, you don’t just affect a policing operation. You affect the viability of a business, the confidence of its patrons and the relationship between the LGBTQIA+ community and Police.
“And that matters for public safety. People who don’t trust Police are less likely to seek their help when something genuinely goes wrong.”
The NTIA also highlighted broader concerns about public confidence in policing. Its own research found more than one-third of Sydneysiders find Police and security guards intimidating, while BOCSAR has reported public confidence in the NSW criminal justice system is now at its lowest recorded level.
Thorpe said the issue was not about giving nightlife venues special treatment.
“We’re asking for exactly the opposite. We’re asking for a modern, consistent and evidence-based policing framework that applies to nightlife businesses because they are businesses — not because they are somehow above the law.
“The Government has spent years telling Sydney that the lockout era is over. It cannot be over in the liquor laws while still being alive in policing culture.”
NTIA chief executive, Paul McLeay, said Sydney’s nightlife industry wants to work with Police.
“We want safe venues, safe streets and safe patrons,” said McLeay.
“But partnership cannot mean the industry is expected to simply accept whatever operational tactics are deployed against it.
“If the Government genuinely wants a safer and more vibrant Sydney at night, then this is the moment to demonstrate that the Vibrancy reforms apply not just to legislation, but to the way the city is actually policed.”
