With more people working from home, Environment Protection Authority Victoria has seen a doubling of reports about noise pollution in the 2020-2021.
Noise report data collected between July 2021 and January 2022 show the trend is continuing with around 3,500 noise pollution reports received at EPA's Contact Centre in that period.
"The most common types of noise complaints are about residential and industrial noise," said EPA CEO Lee Miezis.
"In 2020-2021, 5,404 of the total 20,000 pollution reports we received were about noise, more than twice as many as the year prior, so people are hearing more noise when they would normally be at work and they're calling it in.
"The new Environment Protection Act, introduced in July 2021, give councils more powers to regulate residential noise and they can now appoint noise enforcement officers with power to make directions or even start court proceedings.
"EPA has more direct involvement in noise from commercial premises where machinery or work practices might be causing issues. Complaints about vehicle noise to EPA aren't as common, but we work with police if the offending vehicle is on the road and with council if it is a residential driveway.
"We recognise that people don't always know where to go to get help, so as we always say, call 1300 EPA VIC (1300 372 842) and we can at least help you navigate through to the right agency."
