You can. To give your complaint the best chance of success, keep a diary of when and how long the particular noise occurs and present this to the Council with your complaint.

There are various statutes giving Councils the power to take action against noisy neighbours.

The Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic) applies to any nuisances that are, or may be, dangerous to health, including any noise that is or is liable to be dangerous to health or noxious, annoying or injurious to personal comfort. If the council is satisfied that a nuisance exists, it can issue an improvement or prohibition notice on the person causing the nuisance. If the notice is not complied with, the council may take them to court.

The Council could also make a direction under s 48A of the Environmental Protection Act 1970, which makes it an offence for a person to cause or allow unreasonable noise to be emitted from residential premises. Also, the Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations 2008 (Vic) prohibit the use of a range of items during specified hours. They include the use of motor vehicles, lawn mowers, power tools, domestic air conditioners, record players and musical instruments.

The Council may also be able to take action under its own local laws.

If you aren’t satisfied with the attempts made by the Council to resolve the complaint, you could take your own court action. However, if a court considers your complaint to be frivolous, it may order you to pay your neighbour’s legal costs.