With the Christmas season parties now behind us, and although hopefully we all like a good party, few things are worse than having noisy neighbours who decide that tonight (and every night) is party night.

Sleep can be golden, so neighbours who keep ruining that will be invariably cursed in your home. There is nothing quite like the tinkle of broken glass, the raucous drunken laughter at 3am, or the revving of the car or bike all day, every day.

If it’s safe to do so, go and talk to your neighbours. Provided that you are reasonable about the level of decibels from their place, most neighbours will say “sorry, oops” and turn down the stereo.
If this doesn’t work, or it’s not safe, the best course is simple: call the police. Police have powers to turn the stereo down to zip. Police have to be satisfied that the noise is excessive. They can take into account the effect of the noise on neighbours, and the likely other noise in the locality. A doof-doof party in a quiet country glen might get police action, but someone in the Valley mall might be less lucky in having the volume turned down.

Police have the power to enter the neighbours’ place without a warrant and give a direction to turn the music of f or keep the noise of the par ty down, and to keep it that way for 12 hours. Turning the stereo back up (or cranking up the party back to excessive levels) in that time can lead to a $1000 fine and confiscation or destruction of the stereo. If the problem is a car or bike, these can be seized under anti-hooning laws.

If the party house next door is a continual problem then the managing real estate agents or the body corporate may also be able to help.

Stephen Page is a partner of Harrington Family Lawyers, Brisbane and is the author of the Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog http://lgbtlawblog.blogspot.com