New South Wales' controversial lockout laws will be slightly relaxed from next month with Premier Mike Baird signalling the rules could be further loosened in coming years.
But the watering down appears to have failed to ease the concerns of both sides of the debate, with anti-lockout groups warning of more protests.
Closing times for live-music venues in Sydney's CBD and Kings Cross will be pushed back from 1.30am to 2am while the last drinks rule will extend another 30 minutes to 3.30am as part of a two-year trial.
Premier Mike Baird says he wants Sydney's nightlife to be both vibrant and safe and has promised to review the impact of the changes which will come into effect next year.
Baird:"Importantly what we will be doing is reviewing the statistics on an annual basis so we do want this to be dynamic. If we see an uptick in violence there is obviously an option to revert to where we were but at the same time if we continue to see improvements in violence or a maintenance of violence at levels that they're currently at it gives us a capacity to further liberalise these laws."
