{"id":677477,"date":"2026-05-17T22:35:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677477\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T22:35:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T22:35:10","slug":"pride-of-our-footscray-nightclub-says-it-has-been-uninsurable-for-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/677477\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride of our Footscray nightclub says it has been ‘uninsurable’ for two years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Above a Vietnamese supermarket in the heart of Melbourne’s inner west is a little nightclub that has built a loyal community.<\/p>\n

Since it opened in 2018, Pride of our Footscray has become known as being welcoming and safe for staff and patrons.<\/p>\n

“We’re about 25 per cent gay, 25 per cent lesbian, 25 per cent bi and 25 per cent straight and it’s just this incredible mix of people,” said owner Mat O’Keefe.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The Pride of our Footscray is known across Melbourne’s queer community. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

He owns a 50 per cent share in the business with 199 others owning smaller stakes.<\/p>\n

“It was a community effort of 200 people to put this together \u2014 it’s like a cooperative,” Mr O’Keefe said.<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray hosts poetry, bands, queer film nights, art classes, speed dating, comedy, and trivia, but it’s best known for drag queens.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

HollyPop has worked at Pride of our Footscray for four years.\u00a0 (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

Mr O’Keefe sees his venue as an inclusive space for members of the LGBTQIA+ community and a beloved part of Footscray’s nightlife.<\/p>\n

“People come from Narre Warren, Mornington, Kilsyth, Bendigo,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re really proud people are visiting Footscray for that.”\"A<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray has capacity for 200 patrons. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

HollyPop works full-time as a drag queen and has benefited from the venue’s broad patron base.<\/p>\n

“They’ve given me stages to perform to be creative and to reach audiences that previously I wouldn’t have been able to reach,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I get to go into a space like this and make people happy and smile and that’s all I want to do in my job.”<\/p>\n

Insurance woes<\/p>\n

Public liability insurance is a crucial safety net for all kinds of businesses, including nightclubs, to operate securely.<\/p>\n

If a venue doesn’t have insurance and a patron injures themselves and then makes a compensation claim, the cost of one claim could spell bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

In its first few years, Pride of our Footscray’s insurance premium was just $1,000 a year.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray owner Mat O’Keefe owns 50 per cent of the business. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

When its liquor license got extended to 3am in 2020, the price went up to $6,270.<\/p>\n

But in 2022, the price rose to $43,010. It was a huge increase but Mr O’Keefe paid it.<\/p>\n

In 2024, Pride of our Footscray’s insurance broker went back to the market for a new policy and approached 19 insurers, 18 of which declined to offer insurance at any price.<\/p>\n

One company offered a premium of $142,890, which Mr O’Keefe says would have cost him a total of $157,179 because of the loan he would have needed to pay it.<\/p>\n

It would have been the end of the business.<\/p>\n

Around this time, sky-high insurance hikes were becoming well documented<\/a>, including similar-sized venues Cherry Bar in Melbourne’s CBD and Fitzroy venues Yah Yah’s and The Old Bar.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Fergus from the Old Bar in Fitzroy told the ABC in November last year it was a grim time for Melbourne’s live music venues. (ABC News: Jeremy Story Carter)<\/p>\n

Mr O’Keefe’s landlord was sympathetic and let him operate without public liability insurance.<\/p>\n

Two years have gone by like this \u2014 a period Mr O’Keefe describes as “extremely stressful”.<\/p>\n

“If someone hurt themselves in a serious way \u2026 we would be bankrupted overnight,” he said.\"A<\/p>\n

An insurer told Pride of our Footscray it would only renew its building insurance if the nightclub shut at midnight and patrons remained seated. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

The venue hasn’t ever had a claim against it, but venue manager Monique Anderson said the possibility kept everyone on “tenterhooks”.<\/p>\n

The venue has three security guards and makes sure staff mop up spills quickly.<\/p>\n

Adding to the stress, in 2023 the landlord’s insurer WFI Insurance refused to renew the building’s insurance policy.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Venue manager Monique Anderson says not having insurance means staff are on high alert to prevent mishaps. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

“WFI does not insure buildings in which nightclubs operate due to heightened risk exposures \u2026 including fire and electrical hazards, and potential for crowd density to impede fire response,” a spokesperson for the company said.<\/p>\n

The landlord managed to find a new building insurer, for which Pride of our Footscray pays the lion’s share.<\/p>\n

Why did insurance premiums increase?<\/p>\n

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) said rising claims costs and higher legal fees were the key drivers of increasing premiums.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Rising costs are hitting hardest in higher-risk industries like live music venues, festival operators, caravan parks and amusement venues,\u00a0and outdated laws are putting that cover further out of reach,” an ICA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The federal government launched an inquiry into small business insurance last year, taking submissions from insurers, businesses and other stakeholders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hearings began last week.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray attracts patrons from across Melbourne. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray detailed its insurance woes to the federal inquiry and called for a government insurance scheme.<\/p>\n

According to the Australian Live Music Business Council, a small number of large claims during the COVID years wiped out the premium pool in the entertainment industry and with that, all profitability for underwriters.<\/p>\n

“As a result, the industry has basically said, ‘well, it’s too risky \u2026 we’re going to leave the market’,” said council board member Andrew Bassingthwaighte.<\/p>\n

The Australian Live Music Business Council told the federal inquiry it wants rules for compensation claims strengthened.<\/p>\n

It argues patrons should have to tell a venue if they’re injured straight after it happens and has co-created a new app to detail safety measures to help venues present themselves in the best way to insurers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The FM Track app is designed to help venue managers mitigate injury risk. (Supplied: FM Track)<\/p>\n

New insurance broker on the scene<\/p>\n

Entertainment venues generally apply for their insurance via a broker.<\/p>\n

Back in 2024, Mr O’Keefe’s broker went to 19 insurers seeking public liability insurance premium, and 18 of them wouldn’t offer insurance at any cost.<\/p>\n

In recent weeks a new company he hadn’t heard of called Luma Insurance Brokers, invited him to submit an application.<\/p>\n

Luma launched in 2025 and has 120 clients of which half are music venues.<\/p>\n

The company told the ABC it was yet to provide a quote to Pride of our Footscray but expected to source one for less than $50,000.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pride of our Footscray shares a building in Hopkins Street, Footscray with a number of businesses including a Vietnamese supermarket. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Luma broker David Grainger said most brokers typically built a 10 to 30 per cent commission into insurance premiums, compared to his company which charged a fixed, hourly rate.<\/p>\n

“The person who music venues\/clubs charge with getting them the best insurance is financially incentivised to keep premiums as high as possible,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Keefe remembers the cost breakdown in the $142,890 quote from his broker Arcuri and Associates in 2024, and said it was a fair commission at about 10 per cent.<\/p>\n

Safe space in the west<\/p>\n

The threat of closure has worried staff and regular patrons of Pride of our Footscray, who say it is worth protecting.<\/p>\n

Venue regular Marzy Malyss described the nightclub as an institution and said it was “one of the only gay venues in the western suburbs” and “very important for the queer community”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Marzy Malyss says there aren’t many places like Pride of our Footscray in Melbourne’s west. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

Mr O’Keefe has heard anecdotally that his venue has provided the first night out for trans people.<\/p>\n

“The first time as a woman or as a man, they come here because they’ve heard about how friendly it is,” he said.<\/p>\n

Manager Monique Anderson said some patrons wouldn’t just be disappointed if the venue closed but might not go anywhere else.<\/p>\n

“They may not frequent, you know, in public,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

HollyPop is a full time drag queen who relies on the survival of venues like Pride of our Footscray. (ABC News: Kyle Harley)<\/p>\n

HollyPop has performed at Pride of our Footscray for four years.<\/p>\n

“Without places like this I lose my income, I lose my spaces to perform,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Above a Vietnamese supermarket in the heart of Melbourne’s inner west is a little nightclub that has built…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":677478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,134,49090,4631,46786,63082,326549,326548,12587],"class_list":["post-677477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-hospitality","tag-insurance","tag-lgbtqia","tag-nightclub","tag-pride-of-our-footscray","tag-public-liability","tag-small-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=677477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/677477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/677478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=677477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=677477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=677477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}