Sydney's lockout laws: cutting crime or civil liberties?

The catalyst for the Institute of Criminology's Forum on 'Sydney's Lockout Laws: Cutting Crime or Civil Liberties?' was a rising tide of concern that measures introduced by the New South Wales ('NSW') Government in 2014, primarily designed to reduce alcohol-related violence, may have misjudged the balance required to simultaneously deliver on two community expectations: that residents and visitors in places likes Kings Cross and the Sydney CBD should have access to a dynamic entertainment scene supported by a healthy night-time economy and that those same residents and visitors should be, and feel, safe from violence.