The NSW government has been accused of adopting a "chaotic policy-on-the-run approach" to music festival safety after it announced 14 "higher risk" festivals that will be affected by an incoming licensing scheme.
Laneway, Lost Paradise, Electric Gardens, Subsonic, FOMO and Knockout Games of Destiny and Defqon.1 are among the festivals that will have to adhere to the scheme from March 1.
The list will be regularly reviewed and festivals which improve their safety could be removed while others could be added, Racing Minister Paul Toole said in a statement on Saturday.
It comes after five revellers died at four of the "high-risk" festivals between September 2018 and January this year.
"I want to see our live music industry flourish, I want to see more festivals in the future," Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters at Blacktown on Saturday.
"I also want to make sure that when people attend these festivals the risk of brain injury, lifelong injury, or death is low."
But the Australian Festival Association criticised the announcement, saying the government had adopted "a chaotic policy-on-the-run" approach and their consultation process had been "a farce".
"There remains confusion that these festivals shouldn't even be in the high-risk category," the association said in a statement.
"A stand-out example is Laneway Festival which does not meet the government's high-risk criteria.
"It's also not clear how new festivals will be assessed, what discretionary powers will be available and what risk assessment criteria will be applied."
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