{"id":790458,"date":"2026-07-10T02:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790458\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T02:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T02:31:24","slug":"how-cost-of-living-and-changing-drinking-habits-are-affecting-hobarts-nightlife","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/790458\/","title":{"rendered":"How cost of living and changing drinking habits are affecting Hobart’s nightlife"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the manager of one of the bars at Salamanca on Hobart’s waterfront, Dinesh Khadka has had a front-row seat to Australia’s changing drinking habits.<\/p>\n

Changing consumer behaviour was one of the factors blamed when seven Hobart venues, including several along the Salamanca strip, suddenly shut down on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On some nights, the bar where Dinesh Khadka works is packed \u2014 every table is occupied, and the dance floor is bustling.<\/p>\n

You would expect that to lead to a frantic shift for the bartenders, rapidly mixing cocktails and pouring beers for an endless stream of thirsty patrons.<\/p>\n

\"Dinesh<\/p>\n

Dinesh Khadka has seen a change in customers’ drinking habits. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

But according to Mr Khadka, that is no longer necessarily the case.<\/p>\n

“There have been nights where you have absolutely no space on your floor, the dance floor is packed, and everyone’s having fun,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Everyone’s dancing around, and you can’t really see any empty tables, but the bar is not busy.”<\/p>\n

Mr Khadka said shifting attitudes towards going out have had a distinct impact on hospitality venues, with crowds arriving later in the night and young people ordering fewer drinks.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

As drinking habits change, a full dance floor doesn’t necessarily mean a busy night for the bar staff. (ABC News: Harriet Tatham)<\/p>\n

‘Where are the young people?’<\/p>\n

Wednesday night was traditionally the “student night” in Hobart, when large groups of university students would descend on the city’s bars for a rowdy night out.<\/p>\n

This week’s edition was a relatively quiet affair \u2014 at least in the early evening \u2014 with a mix of students, tourists and locals scattered across various venues in Salamanca.<\/p>\n

For those who did venture out, there was a common sentiment that the vibe had undoubtedly changed, with the rising cost of alcohol most commonly blamed.<\/p>\n

Jade Jesenkovic told the ABC she remembered nights out being much more affordable in her youth, with $2 happy hour pints and cheaper cigarettes.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Jade Jesenkovic says she doesn’t see many young people when she goes out. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

“Going to the pub now is \u2026 depressing. Like, where are the young people? There are no young people here, and that’s what’s sad,” Ms Jesenkovic said.<\/p>\n

“It’s all house parties now, like in Hobart as well, because the nightlife has just been \u2026 shot in the head \u2014 there’s nothing, there’s nowhere to go, there’s no excitement.”<\/p>\n

On the next table over, Keegan Richardson described the $15 he had paid for his beer as an “absolute bloody rort”.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Keegan Richardson says buying drinks at bars is expensive. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

“Four of them, and it’s $60. You can get yourself a whole slab for that \u2014 that’s an absolute joke,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You’ve got to have at least a few beers at home before you go out, otherwise it’s an absolute bloody piss take.”<\/p>\n

\"Empty<\/p>\n

The Cargo and Jack Greene bars on Salamanca Place have now shut. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

Pre-drinks, discount apps used to soften hip-pocket hurt<\/p>\n

University student Jack Muir also named pre-drinking as a way to avoid the “iffy” prices at pubs, along with going out less and keeping an eye out for discounts.<\/p>\n

“You sort of look for the specials a little bit \u2026 and you do like a pre [pre-drink] if you’re going out,” he said.<\/p>\n

Fellow reveller Caleb O’Neal said a night at the pub was “definitely quite expensive” and felt more like “a luxury” than a regular social outing.<\/p>\n

His friend Austin Allison-Hall said their group had become more conscious of the cost of drinks, although he had managed to soften the blow by only buying “one or two”.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Austin Allison-Hall (left) and Caleb O\u2019Neal (right) \u00a0say they and their friends are more conscious of the cost of drinks. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

Another way people were reducing the cost of a night out was by using discount apps to find cheaper meals and drinks.<\/p>\n

Victorian tourist Nora Merralls said she had turned to them after noticing drinks becoming more expensive.<\/p>\n

“There’s almost a bit more of a social acceptance to using these types of things,” she said.<\/p>\n

“People are maybe not as flush as they once were and still want to go out.”<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Nora Merralls says discount apps are one way to save money on drinks and meals out. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

Hobart resident Matthew Bicket said the rising cost of living meant he had to pay closer attention to his budget, particularly when spending $12 or $14 on a beer.<\/p>\n

He also recalled Salamanca being busy on both Friday and Saturday nights, whereas now it appeared people were choosing just one night to go out.<\/p>\n

“Now it’s sort of one of those nights that’s usually pretty big and the other one’s pretty dead,” Mr Bicket said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Matthew Bicket says while it used to be the case that the Salamanca precinct was busy on both Friday and Saturday nights, it’s now more common for only one of those nights to be busy. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

Costly nightlife is ‘detrimental’ to retaining young people<\/p>\n

Fergus Hadley told the ABC that he felt there were not enough “uni discounts” or other incentives to encourage young people to go out.<\/p>\n

He said the alcohol tax made sense but was also having a ripple effect on young Tasmanians’ ability to socialise, by pushing drink prices higher.<\/p>\n

“When you’re in a state like this, which is losing a lot of young people, it’s extremely detrimental,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Things have become so expensive and so restrictive in terms of going out.”<\/p>\n

\"Young<\/p>\n

Fergus Hadley says more discounts are needed to encourage young people to go out. (ABC News: Jake Grant)<\/p>\n

While the cost of drinks was an almost unanimous complaint, many of those out for the night said they worked hard to ensure it did not stop them from socialising.<\/p>\n

That included Ms Jesenkovic, who said she could not imagine a life where she did not catch up with friends over a drink.<\/p>\n

“I can’t imagine such a solitary life where you go to work, you go home, you go to work \u2014 all to buy a house,” she said.<\/p>\n

“I’m not going to go home and go through coupons and be like ‘I’m going to get a sausage for a dollar’. Like, f*** that. I’m going to go get a beer.”<\/p>\n

For hospitality operators, though, individual spending decisions are increasingly translating into broader challenges for the industry’s viability.<\/p>\n

\"Wide<\/p>\n

The Republic Bar and Cafe is one of the seven Hobart venues that closed on Monday. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Live music incentive proposed<\/p>\n

From inside his Salamanca bar, Mr Khadka said he believed the problems extended beyond the venues themselves.<\/p>\n

He said the hospitality sector benefited greatly each year from events like Dark Mofo, and there should be a bigger focus on creating more major drawcards.<\/p>\n

“It seems like Hobart doesn’t have enough people, so the only thing you need is to give people from interstate or international reasons to come down here,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pub Banc Group and Hotel Banc Group, owners of seven Hobart venues, have gone into voluntary administration. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

“It should be coming from a high level, where they should be pushing more of these kinds of events.”<\/p>\n

Acting Premier Bridget Archer this morning said she would write to the federal government proposing a financial incentive for Tasmanian pubs and clubs to host live music.<\/p>\n

Under the proposed pilot program, pubs, hotels and clubs would be able to claim a rebate equal to 50 per cent of what they spend on live music performers and associated live music costs.<\/p>\n

If the Commonwealth accepted the proposal, it would be funded by a hit to the alcohol excise, which is collected by the federal government.<\/p>\n

\"Close<\/p>\n

Republic Bar & Cafe, a Hobart bar. The owner of the venue, Pub Banc Group, which operate seven of Hobart\u2019s best-known venues: Cargo Bar, Jack Greene, Post Street Social, Observatory Bar, Republic Bar, Franklin Wharf Restaurant & Bar and Franklin Wharf Function Centre, has been placed in voluntary administration. Still taken in Hobart on 6 July, 2026. (ABC News: Ebony ten Broeke)<\/p>\n

Ms Archer said the more a venue invested in live music, the more support it would receive.<\/p>\n

“More live music means more people through the door, more customers in town, more activity in our regions and more opportunities for local businesses,” she said.<\/p>\n

A House of Representatives parliamentary committee last year recommended the federal government investigate the potential benefits of a tax offset for the live music industry.<\/p>\n

First weekend since major closures<\/p>\n

This weekend will be the first since the sudden closure of the Hotel Banc and Pub Banc venues, which could have a major impact on the city’s nightlife.<\/p>\n

Mr Khadka said he was unsure whether the closures would funnel more people into his business or simply drive people away from Salamanca.<\/p>\n

“Any venue going down somehow negatively affects Salamanca, because people living in, let’s say, New Norfolk \u2026 they see all over the news, the venues are shutting,” he said.<\/p>\n

“They’ll be like \u2026 ‘maybe we just do a barbecue [at] home and then stick to our local club ‘, and then nobody’s coming to Salamanca.<\/p>\n

“I honestly don’t know what to expect.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the manager of one of the bars at Salamanca on Hobart’s waterfront, Dinesh Khadka has had a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":790459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,127975,99,18679,12804,49090,337255,280367,370399,8539,2801,103926],"class_list":["post-790458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bars","tag-business","tag-closure","tag-hobart","tag-hospitality","tag-night-life","tag-pubs","tag-salamanca","tag-tas","tag-tasmania","tag-waterfront"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790458","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=790458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/790458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/790459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=790458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=790458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=790458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}