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Responding to a noise complaint

This section has information about responding to a complaint made about noise.

  • Alert

    Alert

    If you have breached (broken) a noise restriction, direction, order or notice from police or local council, you may be given a penalty notice (fine) or sent a court attendance notice to respond to the charge at court. If you have received a fine or a court attendance notice, you should get legal advice.

Police, your local council, your landlord (if you are a tenant) or your owners corporation (if you live in strata) may give you a verbal or written warning about noise.

If this happens you should consider the warning carefully and see if there is anything you can do to stop or reduce the noise. A small change in your behaviour may avoid your neighbour taking any further action against you.

If you know where the complaint has come from, try to talk to the person or consider trying mediation to resolve the complaint.

For more information, see Talking to your neighbour.

The law sets out what types of noise should not be heard between certain times from inside a neighbour's home. There are also restrictions on amplified noise, power tools, air conditioners, cars and alarms. For more information on noise restrictions, see Noise restrictions.

If you have breached noise restrictions, the police or your local council may issue you with a warning about the breach. 

If you breach the restriction again within 28 days they may give you a penalty notice (fine). If this happens to you, you should get legal advice.

If your neighbour is bothered by noise coming from you or your property, they may have contacted the police or local council and made a complaint, see:

A noise abatement direction is a direction requiring you to stop offensive noise. Offensive noise is noise that:

  • is harmful or likely to be harmful to a person outside your premises, or
  • interferes unreasonably or is likely to interfere unreasonably with the comfort or repose (relaxation) of a person outside your premises.

This might be because of the level of noise, the time the noise was made, its nature, character or quality, or any other circumstances.

The direction can be issued by your local council or by police. The direction does not have to be issued at the time the noise is made. 

It can be issued within seven days of the noise occurring. It can be in writing or it can be verbal. The direction lasts for up to 28 days from when it was made.

The police and local councils have powers to seize (take) equipment used to make offensive noise.

You cannot appeal a noise abatement direction. The person who made the direction can revoke (cancel) the direction as can another authorised person, for example another council officer or police officer.

If you feel the direction should not have been made, you may consider writing to the agency that made the direction and ask for the direction to be revoked. Your letter should explain your reasons. If you are considering this step, you should get legal advice.

A noise abatement direction lasts for up to 28 days from the day it is issued. If you continue to make the type of noise specified in the noise abatement direction during this time, you may be breaching the direction.

Breaching the direction is an offence. You may be given a penalty notice (fine) or charged with an offence each time you breach the direction.

If you have been given a penalty notice (fine) for breaching the direction and you don't agree with it, you can elect to challenge the fine in court. If you are charged with an offence or elect to go to court you may face a higher penalty if you are convicted (found guilty).

For more information about how to challenge your fine in court, see the Fines topic on this website. 

Before you are served with (given) a nuisance order you will be given notice.

The notice will give you seven days from when you receive the notice to send a letter of objection to the council stating the reasons why you think a nuisance order should not be issued.

The council will consider your objection and make a decision. If the noise continues and/or the council is not satisfied with your letter of objection, the council will issue the order.

You cannot appeal a nuisance order.

You may object to the notice given before a nuisance order.

You have seven days to object to the notice.

Once a nuisance order has been issued it applies immediately and lasts for six months.

If you have been issued with a nuisance order and the noise continues, you will be breaching the order. It is an offence to breach a nuisance order.

A local council may issue a penalty notice (fine) for breach of a nuisance order. Alternatively, a local council may charge you with an offence for breaching a nuisance cat order or a nuisance dog order. You will then have to go to court to deal with the matter. There is a fine for a breach of a nuisance order for a nuisance cat and a nuisance dog. There are higher fines for the second offence.

If you have been given a penalty notice (fine) for breaching an order and you don't agree with it, you may elect to challenge the fine in court. If you elect to go to court you face the higher maximum penalty for a nuisance cat and for a nuisance dog if you are convicted (found guilty).

For more information about electing to have your fine dealt with at court, see Fines.

If you are considering challenging a fine in court or you are charged with an offence, you should get legal advice.

If your neighbour made a complaint to the local council about noise coming from you or your property, you may have been issued with a prevention notice by the council, see:

A prevention notice is used to control actions that are done in an environmentally unsatisfactory manner. This can include noise but also other actions.

A prevention notice tells you what action you need to take to stop, prevent or minimise noise coming from you or your property. For example, the notice may require you to provide noise insulation around the equipment that is creating the noise. 

In some cases, your local council may ask you to consider ways to stop or reduce the noise and submit an action plan to the council. The notice will then specify when these things should be done.

If you are served with (given) a prevention notice, you may have to pay an administrative fee and compliance costs.

Administrative fee

Your local council may ask you to pay an administrative fee to cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice. You must pay the fee within 30 days of receiving the notice. If you don't pay the administrative fee, you may be charged with an offence or given a penalty notice (fine).

 If you are unable to pay the administrative fee, you can apply to have the fee waived (cancelled) or ask for more time to pay. For more information, contact your local council.

Compliance costs 

Your local council may give you a separate compliance costs notice to cover their costs of monitoring your compliance with the notice, for example, this may include the cost of doing site inspections to investigate any further complaints.

If you don't pay costs, the council may take you to court to try and recover the money. If this happens, you should get legal advice.

If you don't agree with the prevention notice, you can file an appeal at the Land and Environment Court within 21 days of being served (given) with the notice.

If you want to appeal the notice, you should get legal advice.

The filing of an appeal will not stop the commencement of the notice.

If you don't agree with the prevention notice, you can file an appeal at the Land and Environment Court within 21 days of being served (given) with the notice.

If you want to appeal the notice, you should get legal advice. 

The filing of an appeal will not stop the commencement of the notice.

If your neighbour made a complaint about noise coming from you or your property, your local council may issue you with a noise control notice, see: 

A noise control notice is a notice from your local council that limits certain activities or the use of certain equipment to a particular noise level.

The notice may also set out when the noise can occur, for example, on certain days and/or certain times of the day. It may also set separate noise limits for different periods. If the notice doesn't set different noise limits for different periods, the noise limit applies at all times.

The notice must be issued in writing.

If you are served with (given) a noise control notice you must comply with the notice immediately unless the notice sets a later date. Once a noise control notice is issued, it stays in force until the council varies (changes) or revokes (cancels) it.

If you are served with (given) a noise control notice, you may have to pay an administrative fee and compliance costs.

Administrative fee

Your local council will ask you to pay an administrative fee to cover the costs of preparing and serving the notice. You must pay the fee within 30 days of receiving the notice. If you don't pay the administrative fee, you may be charged with an offence or given a penalty notice (fine).

If you are unable to pay the administrative fee, you can apply to have the fee waived (cancelled) or ask for more time to pay. For more information, contact your local council.

Compliance costs  

Your local council may give you a separate compliance costs notice to cover their costs of monitoring your compliance with the notice. For example, this may include the cost of doing site inspections to investigate any further complaints.

If you don't pay the amount by the due date specified in the compliance costs notice, the council may take you to court to try and recover the money. If this happens, you should get legal advice.

A noise control notice continues to apply until the council varies (changes) or revokes (cancels) it.

If you don't agree with the notice, you can file an appeal in the NSW Land and Environment Court within 21 days of being served with it. If the noise control notice relates to keeping animals you must file any appeal within 7 days of being served with the notice.

If you want to appeal your notice, you should get legal advice.

The filing of an appeal will not postpone the start of the notice. 

If you are served with a noise control notice and you continue to make noise above the noise limit specified in the notice, you will be breaching the notice.

You may be given a penalty notice (fine) or charged with an offence.

If you are charged with an offence or elect to challenge your fine in court you could face a maximum penalty and an extra fine for each day the breach continues.

For more information about electing to have your fine dealt with at court, see the Fines topic on this website. 

If you are charged with an offence, you should get legal advice.

If your neighbour has a problem with you causing noise, they may have applied for a noise abatement order to be made against you at the Local Court.

A noise abatement order is a court order to stop particular noise.

For more information on how to respond if your neighbour has applied to the Local Court for a Noise Order against you, see Responding to a Noise Order.

If you and your neighbour live in a strata scheme, your neighbour may have made a complaint to the owners corporation, managing agent or building manager.

All residents of a strata scheme have the obligation not to cause a nuisance to any other unit. All residents of strata schemes are bound by rules called by-laws. Different schemes have different by-laws, but usually contain by-laws about noise. There may also be by-laws about animals.

Your neighbour may have contacted the owners corporation or managing agent to complain if they feel you are breaking these rules.

The owners corporation may write to you give you a warning about noise. This is a good opportunity to try and resolve the problem before it goes any further. You can try talking to your neighbours or mediation. For more information, see Talking to your neighbours.

The owners corporation can issue a Notice to Comply with a By-Law. This is a notice to you:

  • telling you  which by-law you have breached
  • explaining how you have breached the by-law
  • warning that if you continue to breach the by-law the owners corporation may apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for a financial penalty.

If the problem continues, the owners corporation can apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for an order that you pay a fine.

If you get notice that your owners corporation is making an application to NCAT, you should get legal advice.

You, the owners corporation or other unit owners can also make use of a specialised mediation service for strata residents. Fair Trading NSW, runs a free strata mediation service.  For more information on mediation see Applying for strata mediation Fair Trading NSW website.

If you are a residential tenant, your neighbour may have made a complaint about noise to your landlord or real estate agent.

All tenants have terms in their residential tenancy agreement (lease) that mean that they must not:

  • cause a nuisance, or
  • interfere with the peace, comfort or privacy of a neighbour.

You must also not permit anyone else to do these things, which means that you must not let your visitors or people living with you cause a nuisance or disturb your neighbours.

If your neighbour complains to your landlord, your landlord or real estate agent has a number of options on how to respond.

Your landlord may decide that you are not breaching the residential tenancy agreement and may take no further action.

Your landlord may warn you that you are breaching the residential tenancy agreement.

Your landlord may apply to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) for an order that you stop breaching (breaking) the tenancy agreement. 

In the most serious cases the landlord may give you a termination notice then apply to NCAT for an order terminating your tenancy. 

If your landlord gives you a termination notice or makes an application to NCAT for an order you should get legal advice from your local Tenants Advice and Advocacy Service.

If you are a tenant of FaCS Housing NSW (sometimes called Housing Commission or Department of Housing), your neighbour may make a complaint to FaCS Housing NSW about noise. 

For more information on FaCS Housing NSW policies, see We’re here to help with housing on the NSW Government Communities and Justice website.

If you are a tenant of a community housing service your neighbour may make a complaint to the community housing service.

For more information on community housing policies, see Find a housing office on the NSW Government Communities and Justice website.