Noise and nuisance
Nuisance is about a substantial and unreasonable interference with your use and enjoyment of your own land. It is not about whether your neighbour is being inconsiderate, and that distinction is where most of these matters are decided.
General information, not legal advice. This page sets out how the law generally applies. It does not take account of your circumstances, and you should get advice about your own situation before acting on it. The official sources this page is written from are listed on it; where they differ from anything here, they are the authority.
The question is not whether it is annoying
People come to nuisance after everything else has failed. The music, the dog, the extractor fan, the security light, the water coming under the fence. They have asked, they have asked again, and nothing has changed. The question they want answered is whether the law will make it stop.
The law’s test is narrower than the ordinary meaning of the word. Private nuisance is a substantial and unreasonable interference with your use and enjoyment of your land. Living near other people involves putting up with a certain amount, and the law expects that. What matters is the character of the area, how long the interference lasts, when it happens, how often, and whether what the neighbour is doing is a reasonable use of their own land. A one-off party is not a nuisance. The same noise at the same hour every night for a year is a different proposition.
Before a civil claim, though, look at the regulatory route, because it is far cheaper. For noise, the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) deals with offensive noise. Police and other authorised officers can give noise abatement directions. Councils have their own powers. And the NSW EPA states that a resident affected by offensive noise can apply to a Local Court for a noise abatement order — an order to stop the noise or prevent it recurring — with continuing to make offensive noise after such an order being a criminal offence.
That route has requirements of its own. The EPA describes the evidence needed as proof that offensive noise has occurred and is likely to recur, including corroborating statements from witnesses. So the single most useful thing you can do, before speaking to anybody, is keep a careful record: dates, times, how long it went on, and who else noticed.
What the work actually is
Working out which route is yours
A regulatory complaint, a noise abatement order in the Local Court, or a civil claim in nuisance. They cost very different amounts and they suit very different problems. Choosing well at the start is most of the value.
Building a record that stands up
A diary of dates, times and duration, and where possible the accounts of other people affected. The EPA describes corroborating witness statements as part of what is needed for a noise abatement order, and a good record is what makes any of these routes viable.
Correspondence that gives them a way out
A letter that sets out what is happening, what you want changed and by when, without turning it into a war. A surprising number of nuisances stop at this point, because the neighbour did not know how bad it was at your end.
An honest view on a civil claim
What a court would actually be asked to decide, what damages or an injunction would be worth to you, and what it would cost to get there. For a great many nuisances the honest answer is that a civil claim is not proportionate, and we will say so.
Questions people ask first
My neighbour is loud. Is that a nuisance?
Not on its own. Private nuisance requires a substantial and unreasonable interference with your use and enjoyment of your land. The law looks at how loud, how long, how often, at what hours, and what sort of area it is. Noise that is genuinely intolerable and repeated is a much stronger position than noise that is irritating and occasional.
Who do I ring — the council, the police or the EPA?
It depends on the source of the noise and when it is happening. The NSW EPA publishes neighbourhood noise guidance covering which authority deals with which kind of noise, and police and other authorised officers have their own power to give noise abatement directions under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. Start with the EPA’s guidance rather than guessing.
What is a noise abatement order?
The EPA states that a resident or businessperson affected by offensive noise can seek one from a Local Court, and that noise abatement orders are issued by local courts to stop offensive noise or prevent it from occurring. Evidence is needed that offensive noise has occurred and is likely to recur. The EPA also states that continuing to make offensive noise after an order has been issued is a criminal offence.
Do I have to go to court to stop it?
Usually not, and usually you should not start there. Most of these matters are resolved by a record, a clear letter and a regulatory complaint. Court is for the situation where those have genuinely been tried. It is also worth knowing that a court order does not improve the relationship, and you will still be living next door afterwards.
It is not noise — it is smoke and smells.
Nuisance is not limited to noise. Smoke, odours, dust, water and light can all be raised, and each is judged on whether the interference with your use and enjoyment of your land is substantial and unreasonable. Councils also have regulatory powers over some of these. The approach is the same: record it carefully first.
The noise is a dog.
A barking dog has its own path, and it is usually the local council rather than a court. The Companion Animals Act 1998 (NSW) provides for nuisance orders where a dog’s barking unreasonably interferes with the peace, comfort or convenience of a person in other premises. See animals.
I live in a strata building. Is this the same?
No, and that matters. Noise between lots in a strata scheme is usually dealt with under the by-laws and the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 (NSW), and there is a compulsory mediation step before most applications to NCAT. See strata neighbours.
What to have ready
Every one of these routes asks the same first question: what exactly is happening, and how often. A record answers it; a description does not.
- A diary of each occurrence: the date, the time it started, how long it lasted.
- What the noise or interference actually is, and where it comes from.
- Any recordings you have made, with the date and time they were made.
- The names of other people affected, and whether they would put something in writing.
- Any complaint already made to the council, the police or another authority, and what came of it.
- Anything you have said or written to the neighbour, and their response.
- Whether the interference is worse at particular times, days or seasons.
- How it is affecting you — sleep, health, working from home, the use of particular rooms.