Our nightlife is on the up, but what does this really mean?

Readers might have been somewhat surprised, or at least bemused, to read this week that Canberra's nightlife is improving.

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Canberra has never been known to shine particularly brightly after dark, with visitors, newcomers and even long-timers bemoaning the quiet streets and lack of meal service after 9pm.

The city centre is a constant conundrum, with some areas almost completely devoid of life in the evenings, even while the City Renewal Authority, the ACT government agency devoted to Civic and its surrounding areas, insists better times are just around the corner.

Dave Howe at Dissent Cafe & Bar. Picture by Karleen Minney

Once the tram is finished. Once the new hotel on Bunda Street opens, or the new theatre, or the various large building projects dotted around the CBD.

But if you listen to the clamour of hospitality industry voices, things have never been worse, and while there may well be an end in sight, it's too many years away to factor into the day-to-day running of a venue.

And yet, new spending data (from Visa, no less) has revealed that Canberra has climbed to the position of 10th-best nightlife economy in Australia, up from its 2025 ranking of 12th.

What could account for this, with so many venues closing, and so many publicans, restaurant owners and small businesses complaining of hard times?

Read more closely, and it's revealed that when spending is considered, much of this nightlife economy is concentrated on food and fine dining, a sector in which Canberra has been punching above its weight for some time now.

In ranking Canberra's nightlife, the company also took into account spending on transport, and an increase in the number of establishments open at night, including grocery stores, pharmacies and convenience stores.

Safety at night stood out as a factor "significantly above" the national average.

So, what picture does this paint, exactly? What kind of "nightlife" are we talking about here?

There are precious few live music venues around town, but this is nothing new.

Despite this, a spokesperson for Visa noted that Canberra has a "diverse and consistent" rather than "concentrated" nighttime economy.

This means, presumably, that Canberrans are willing to spend time and money on food, and appreciate the convenience of a late-night pharmacy.

Meanwhile, bars and clubs have steadily been closing their doors in the city centre over the years, as habits and demographics change.

In this context, it's also worth noting, not for the first time, that drinking habits have changed substantially in recent years.

One bar owner pointed out that younger people, rather than spending a night out drinking, are more likely to direct their discretionary spending towards dinner.

Another suggested that habits were more geared towards one big night out a week, rather than consistent, after-work social drinking.

Canberra is defined in many ways by its decentralised design, with town centres supposedly doing the heavy lifting when it comes to creating smaller, vibrant communities.

But the CBD has to stand for something, and Civic, as has been reported recently and ad nauseam, is the ultimate problem child, thriving in some quarters, and well and truly dead or dying in others.

The fact some Canberra restaurants and bars are bursting at the seams while others close within a year of opening suggests that not even those ranking cities have the answers.

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