Guide to hiring a community venue

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We have many community venues that are available for casual hire. Below is information to help you with hiring a community venue.

Knox has many community facilities that are available for casual hire, including:

sports pavilions
community halls
meeting rooms
neighbourhood houses
senior citizens halls
scout and guide halls

View our community venues

How to hire a community venue

Most of our community facilities are managed by community organisations. Each venue has a facility manager, who is responsible for managing bookings.

Booking the facility

To book a facility, contact the facility manager for the venue you would like to hire. They will provide you with a booking request form and terms and conditions.

If the facility you want to hire is not listed, contact our Customer Service team on 9298 8000 or [email protected]. We can help direct you to the right person.

Hiring eligibility

You must be aged 18 or over. Facility managers may ask for photo identification for proof of age and address.

Public liability insurance

Venue hirers need to get public liability cover for $20 million.

We can provide public liability insurance cover for casual bookings for individuals or groups who do not already have insurance. If you need this, please speak to the facility manager.

Security bond

All hirers must pay a security bond, at least one week before the booking date.

Council sets the fee for each security bond level. The facility manager will determine the bond level based on factors including:

number of guests
type of event
previous bookings
consumption of alcohol
time of hire

Alcohol at Council venues

Some of our venues have liquor licences. If your preferred venue has a liquor licence, you must follow their rules, like:

what times guests can consume alcohol
which guests are allowed to drink

The facility manager will let you know what the rules are.

Liquor licences

You do not need a liquor licence if:

you are serving alcohol to guests and they are not paying for it
guests bring their own alcohol

Selling alcohol

You are not permitted to sell alcohol at a Council venue. Selling alcohol includes:

a paid bar
including alcohol in the cost of attending
offering alcohol as a prize in a raffle

COVID-19 requirements

You must follow all current COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine mandates. The facility manager will provide you with more information.

More venue hire information

Serving food at a Council venue

You can provide your guests with food at a Council venue. The facility manager will tell you if there are any specific rules.

If you plan on selling food, you must:

Apply for a relevant food permit
Provide a copy to the facility manager

Temporary or mobile food premises can use the Streatrader website.

If you are not selling food, you will not need a permit.

If you want to use a person or business to provide catering, they need to be a registered food business. If you are doing the catering yourself, you don't need to be registered.

You must register your event with Victoria Police's Partysafe program if:

alcohol will be consumed
the event will last 4 hours or more
attendance of more than 75 guests (including children) is expected.

Depending on your event, the facility manager may require you to register your event with Partysafe, even if it doesn't meet these conditions.

Registration must happen at least one week prior to your event date.

Hiring security guards

You must hire licenced security guards if:

alcohol will be consumed
the event will last 4 hours or more
attendance of more than 75 guests (including children) is expected.

For every 75 people, there needs to be one security guard. For example:

If your event has 50 people, you will require one security guard.
If your event has 80 people, you will require 2 security guards.
If your event has 150 people, you will require 2 security guards.

Proof of hire of licenced security guards must be provided to the facility manager at least one week prior to your event.

Noise and music rules

You must make sure that nearby residents are not disturbed by noise from your event.

This includes:

live music
recorded music
televisions
PA systems
noise made by guests entering and exiting the facility

The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) decides the times that noise must end to ensure residents are not disturbed. These times are:

weekdays – before 7:00 am
weekends – before 9:00 am
Sunday to Thursday – after 10:00 pm
Friday, Saturday and the night before a public holiday – after 11:00 pm.

Raffles and fundraising events

You can use a Council venue to hold a raffle or a fundraising event.

Some types of fundraising, such as bingo and raffles may require a permit from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Reform.

Casino nights are not permitted.

Child Safe Standards

If you are an organisation that is legally required to comply with the Victorian Government's Child Safe Standards, as set out in the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic), your event must adhere to the standards.

By agreeing to our terms and conditions, you are confirming that you are compliant.

Decorating the venue

The facility manager can confirm what decorations are allowed and how they can be fixed.

You cannot decorate in a way that may cause damage to the venue. This includes fixing nails or screws into walls, floors or doors.

Animals at the venue

Service animals are always welcome at our community venues.

If you would like to bring a mobile petting zoo or a similar animal activity, you will need to get approval from the facility manager. You may also need approval from Council if it is in a shared or public space.

Where can I get more information?

For more information on hiring one of our community venues:

review the Community halls and venues for hire
download the community venue hire fact sheet
speak to the facility manager for the venue you want to book.

If you cannot find a contact for the venue you want to hire, contact our Customer Service team on 9298 8000.

Need help?

Or call our Customer Service team on 9298 8000.