Popular Sydney Pub Shut Down & Fined For Breaching COVID Rules

Popular Sydney pub and live music venue, Unity Hall Hotel, has been hit with a $10,000 fine and forced to shut its doors for one week after it was found to have breached COVID rules on two occasions. 

As 9News reports, the historic Balmain venue received a $5,000 fine on Monday following an inspection over the weekend, due to tables and chairs not being appropriately distanced and unsatisfactory sign-in processes.

Police were then called to the Darling Street space on Tuesday where 32 people were found to be standing and dancing during a private function, again breaching COVID guidelines which states a ten-person limit on group bookings. 

The Unity Hall Hotel, the first to be shut down in NSW for repeated breaches of the COVID health and safety guidelines, has closed today and will reopen on Wednesday 16 September.

"We acknowledge that we did not fully understand every aspect of the changing regulations and we should have," the venue said in a statement released last night. 

"The standards required of the hotel by the health authorities are very high, but we recognise that the consequences of this virus are severe and are not to be taken lightly."

Read the full statement below.