Melbourne is without question, the events capital of Australia. With more festivals, sporting and cultural events than you can poke a stick at — live events are synonymous with the State and it’s something Victorians are deeply passionate about no matter what their interests. To ensure this passion wasn’t taken advantage of, the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions (DJPR) introduced The Major Events Act 2009 to protect fans from being priced-out from events or ripped off by ticket scalpers.
This law makes it a punishable offence to advertise, offer for resale, or resell a ticket for more than 10% above the original face value of the ticket. Penalties can range anywhere from $826 up to $495,660 depending on the nature of the offence. Under the Act, the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events can declare any popular event (including sport, theatre events, concerts, gallery exhibitions and festivals) as a “major event”, covered by the ticket scalping legislation.
| View the legislation and fact sheet at the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions. |
Is ticket resale illegal in Victoria?
No, it’s not illegal to resell any event ticket in Victoria (even a declared major event), as long as it’s done the right way. Ticket scalping laws are designed to protect fans from price gouging and scams — not to ban legitimate ticket resale. This means it’s perfectly legal for tickets to change hands, provided it happens in a way that is fair and genuine by selling the tickets for no more than 10% above their original price (also known as “face value”).
How can event organisers support legal ticket resale in Melbourne?
The reality is, there will always be people who honestly can’t use a ticket they have — as well as people who missed out on tickets but would still love to attend. As an event organiser, the last thing you want is these fans penalised for the actions of bad actors taking advantage of your popularity.
If you attempt to ban ticket resale or don’t offer any secure way for tickets to change hands, you risk pushing attendees to unregulated platforms or having larger rates of no-shows at your event (hurting on-site revenue opportunities).
The best solution for venues and event organisers is to partner with a secure and fair resale platform that facilitates legal fan-to-fan exchange. This lets you offer the flexibility of ticket resale for your event, while protecting attendees from scalpers and legal prosecution. However, sometimes, an event organiser might attach private conditions restricting your right to onsell tickets. That’s a matter between the buyer and the organiser. Tixel is unable to advise you if and when this might occur.
Tixel is an honest event marketplace for fans, meaning that we take all reasonable steps to ensure tickets are valid, with the additional protection of our money back guarantee. We also cap pricing at 10% above face value to ensure everything is above board.
How Tixel can simplify ticket resale anywhere in the world
There are an increasing number of jurisdictions around the world introducing ticket scalping regulations, so it makes sense to protect your fans with a secure resale option, regardless of your event type or size.
With Tixel’s price cap, event organisers have a practical way of helping to enforce local legislation such as Victoria’s Major Events Act. Tixel takes all reasonable steps to ensure tickets are valid, with the additional protection of our money back guarantee. And with Tixel managing all resale enquiries, it’s a simple solution that can reduce the amount of enquiries your customer service teams receive.
Get transparency on your ticket resale market
When tickets are purchased by scalpers or brokers, you lose all visibility on who is attending your event. This impacts your marketing data and any communication you need to get out to ticket holders such as date, venue, or lineup changes. Even in the instance of legitimate fan-to-fan ticket transfers, if this takes place over social media or a classifieds website, you have no way of knowing who is showing up on the day.
Tixel offers a complete event dashboard, giving you x-ray vision on this audience that was once invisible. Our dynamic waitlists lets you see real-time demand for your tickets and potential attendees are notified as soon as a ticket becomes available. It’s ticket resale as it ought to be. Please note that Tixel obtains express consent from its buyers, and their buying information is only shared with event organisers.
Take charge, stay fair
Tixel’s promoter tools allow you to take control of your ticket after-market, alongside primary ticketing. Our Safe Scan anti-fraud tech and capped pricing provides a fair place for fans to transfer tickets — while giving you tools to improve sales and sell out sooner. To join our lineup of great events using Tixel, sign up for a free account here.