Critics warned of deaths when Amsterdam began handing out 24-hour liquor licences, Milan told the Cities After Dark summit in Melbourne's west. "The night has been demonised since 2000, or maybe even longer, for some folks' advantage," he said, arguing that claims "nothing good ever happens after midnight" are wrong.
Milan, who became Amsterdam's inaugural night mayor in 2012 and now runs the research agency VibeLab, said he saw festival-goers dancing into their 50s and communities forming around electronic music, but also crowds spilling onto narrow streets at 3am and 4am, revellers moving to illegal venues, and artists leaving for Berlin.
The answer was "multidisciplinary" 24-hour licences in up-and-coming neighbourhoods within a 20-minute bike ride of the centre, awarded through a tender process. The licence is attached to the operator, not the building, and can be revoked at any time. Fifteen venues now operate on the city's outskirts. "When you're developing your nighttime economy, you need to really start changing the rules of the game," Milan said. He acknowledged pushback from inner-city venue owners and warned that small businesses need long-term protection, including through rent control.
VibeLab research puts the return at up to 11 euros for every euro invested in nocturnal creative industries. University of Melbourne researcher Anna Edwards told the summit that 4.1 million Australians, almost 30 per cent of the workforce, regularly work at night. Visa research ranks Melbourne as the country's top nighttime economy, with Australians going out an average of 80 nights a year in 2026.
Victoria has no dedicated 24-hour liquor licences, and the state government says it has no intention of introducing them. Labor has promised that pub licensing would automatically be extended to 3am if it is re-elected. The opposition has pledged "a new dedicated focus on the nighttime economy". "We'll cut red tape, fast-track permits, and standardise council laws so businesses can operate reliably across different areas," Deputy Opposition Leader David Southwick said.
Maribyrnong City Council is drawing directly on Amsterdam's example, deploying a trained two-person "welcome crew" in Footscray modelled on the red-jacketed "square hosts" who patrol Amsterdam's Rembrandtplein, an initiative Milan said cut alcohol-related violence by 20 per cent and public nuisance by 30 per cent. The council is seeking $50 million each from the Victorian and federal governments for its $148 million Creative West precinct, which mayor Mohamed Semra called "the solution" for the west. "Creativity alone cannot compensate for a lack of cultural infrastructure," he said.