Bigger fees for risky venues In November Ivy topped the list of the most violent venues in NSW with 26 assaults in the previous year. The state's largest and most violent venues face paying tens of thousands of dollars a year to keep their liquor licences, under a proposal being taken to cabinet on Monday. Shutting pubs earlier has a demonstrated effect right around the world As police mopped up after another weekend of drunken violence in Sydney, including at the state's most violent venue, Ivy, the O'Farrell government was preparing to consider a system of risk-based licences for clubs and pubs. Under the scheme, a version of which Hospitality Minister George Souris will take to cabinet, venues would pay a periodic fee based on factors such as trading hours, capacity and licence type. The higher the risk, the higher the fee. According to calculations by the NSW/ACT Alcohol Policy Alliance, Ivy would pay more than $25,000 a year if NSW adopted a scheme similar to that in place in the ACT. On Saturday night, police were called to a lane near Ivy after a group of patrons who had left the venue started a brawl that reportedly spilt onto George Street. Two people were restrained by the riot squad when they refused to move on. Police told them they might receive an infringement notice for offensive behaviour. But the venue's management, Merivale, tried to distance itself from the melee, one of four brawls in the city at the weekend. "The individuals left Ivy without incident," a spokeswoman said. It is the only licensed venue in NSW on level 1 licensing restrictions, meaning it must have a 2am lockout and bans on shots and premixed drinks over 5 per cent alcohol after midnight. Risk-based licensing is in place in the ACT, Queensland and Victoria but in NSW venue owners pay a one-off fee for a liquor licence granted in perpetuity. In December the chairman of a review of the Liquor Act, Michael Foggo, recommended NSW adopt a risk-based scheme with an annual fee which, if unpaid, would mean the suspension and ultimate cancellation of the licence. Mr Foggo said that in NSW the fee for almost half the liquor licence applications in NSW was $50, which had not changed since 2008. The one-off fee for a late trading venue is about $3000. The review recommended a risk-based scheme to let licensees "lower their fees by maintaining safer, low-risk operations with strong responsible service of alcohol practices." An email leaked to the ABC last week reportedly reveals that in August 2012 cabinet gave in-principle approval to a risk-based scheme after the death of Thomas Kelly, 18, two months earlier. The email suggested cabinet supported fee levels comparable to those in other states. But they have not been implemented. The government has also been under pressure to trial the "Newcastle solution" of 1am lockouts and 3am closing times. But Peter Miller, an associate professor at Deakin University and author of the largest study into alcohol and nightlife crime, said there was little evidence lockouts would work, although there was ample evidence that reducing hours was effective. Professor Miller said the evidence showed that locking people in and still allowing them to drink meant "assault rates go up." Shutting pubs earlier has a demonstrated effect right around the world. You see around 15-20 per cent reduction per hour in assaults," he said. On Sunday Opposition Leader John Robertson said 3am closing could simply mean last alcoholic drinks at 3am. They can keep serving food, they can keep dancing, they can serve soft drink. You don't have to leave if you're having a good time and you're acting responsibly.