01Who you are buying from

Night in Lanka is run collectively by the Sri Lankan societies of UNSW, Western Sydney, Sydney, Macquarie and UTS. Tickets are sold by the Sri Lankan Students Society of the University of New South Wales, which holds the merchant account the money arrives in and is the party you are contracting with. Night in Lanka is not affiliated with any university administration.

The cruise itself is operated by a separate company, Inception Cruise, which runs the vessel, holds the liquor licence and employs the crew. Where these terms say the crew or the operator decides something, that is a decision we do not control.

Buying a ticket means you accept these terms, the refund policy and the privacy policy. They are the terms referred to at checkout and on your ticket.

02What a ticket includes

One ticket admits one person to Night in Lanka 2026 aboard Inception Cruise, boarding at King Street Wharf 3, Darling Harbour, on Saturday 12 September 2026. It covers boarding, unlimited food and unlimited drinks for the sailing, the DJ, and whatever else is running on the night, such as the photobooth. There is nothing else to pay for once you are on board.

A ticket does not include transport to or from the wharf, accommodation, or anything that happens before or after the sailing. The line-up, the food and the run of the night are described in good faith and can change; see clause 11.

03Age and ID

Night in Lanka 2026 is 18+. Drinks are included and are served under the operator's liquor licence, and nobody under 18 can board.

You must bring physical photo ID to the wharf. A driver licence, passport, proof-of-age card or equivalent. Digital licences have not been accepted at boarding, and a photo of your ID on your phone is not ID. This is the rule that catches people out every year, and it is the one we cannot bend at the gangway: no valid ID, no entry, and no refund.

04The name on the ticket

Every ticket carries the name of the person using it, entered at checkout. You can buy up to ten tickets in one order so a group books together, and you name each one as you go.

The name on the ticket must match the photo ID that person brings. If it does not, change it before the night using the link on the ticket, which takes seconds and costs nothing. Names cannot be changed at the gangway.

05Boarding

Boarding opens at 7:00pm and the boat departs at 7:30pm. Come at seven. Thirty minutes is the whole margin for everyone to board.

Your ticket is a QR code on a page we email you. Bring it on your phone, screenshot it, or print it. Each code scans once. If a code has already been scanned, the door team will treat the second person presenting it as not holding a valid ticket.

06Price and payment

Tickets are sold in three releases, each dearer than the one before, and each release opens at a published time. The price you see at checkout is the price that leaves your account: the card fee is already inside it and no booking fee or surcharge is added at the end. All prices are in Australian dollars.

Choosing a release holds those seats for ten minutes while you check out. If the hold runs out the seats go back on sale, nothing is charged, and you start again. Your order is only confirmed when the payment succeeds and the ticket email arrives.

Card details go straight to Stripe, our payment processor. This site never sees or stores them.

07Australian cards only

We accept cards issued in Australia. An overseas-issued card costs roughly twice as much in fees, and the ticket price is set too close to the bone to absorb it.

A card's country cannot be read until it is authorised, so if you pay with an overseas card the authorisation is released immediately and nothing is charged. Your bank may show a pending amount for a day or two before it drops off; that is the released authorisation, not a payment, and there is nothing to refund. Use an Australian card, or ask a friend here to buy the ticket and transfer it to you.

08Transfers and resale

Tickets are transferable and it is free. Use the link on the ticket: enter the new holder's name and their email, and the ticket moves. The old QR code stops working immediately and a new ticket is emailed to them.

Transfers must be at face value or less. New South Wales law caps the resale of event tickets at 10% above what was paid, and advertising or selling above that is illegal. We will cancel without refund any ticket we find has been resold above that cap, or listed for resale in breach of it.

Buy only from this site. A ticket bought from a stranger on Instagram or a resale site may already have been scanned, transferred or cancelled, and we cannot help you at the gangway if it has.

09Refunds

Tickets are not refundable if you change your mind or cannot make it. Transfer it instead, which is free and takes a minute. Where the law requires a refund, and where we cancel or materially change the night, you get your money back in full.

The full detail, including how to ask and how long it takes, is in the refund policy, which forms part of these terms.

10Conduct on board

It is a licensed vessel on open water, so the rules are not ours to soften. Alcohol is served under Responsible Service of Alcohol law: the crew can refuse service, and anyone who arrives already intoxicated can be refused boarding.

The master of the vessel and the crew have final authority on board, including on safety instructions and where you may and may not go. The door team and the committee may refuse entry to, or remove at the next opportunity, anyone who is violent, harassing, racist, significantly intoxicated, damaging property, or ignoring a crew instruction. No refund is given where somebody is refused entry or removed for their own conduct, and you are responsible for damage you cause.

Look after each other. If something happens on the night, find a committee member or a crew member.

11If the night changes

Boarding times, the vessel, the DJ line-up and the running order can change, and small changes are not a reason for a refund. We publish anything that changes on this site and email everyone holding a ticket.

If the event is cancelled, or moved to another date, or changed so materially that it is not what you bought, you are entitled to a full refund. That is set out in the refund policy.

Harbour cruises sail in most weather. A decision to sail, delay or cancel for weather is the operator's and is made on safety grounds.

12Photography and filming

A photographer and a photobooth work the night, and the photos are how the event is promoted the following year. By attending you accept that you may be photographed or filmed, and that those images may be used by the societies to promote Night in Lanka, including on Instagram.

If you would rather not appear, tell the photographer on the night, and if a picture of you is already published, email us and we will take it down. We will not use images of you in anything other than promoting the event and the societies.

13Your information

What we collect at checkout, why, who else touches it and how long we keep it is set out in the privacy policy. In short: we collect what is needed to issue your ticket, board you and split the proceeds between the five societies, and we do not sell it or send you marketing.

14Liability and the law

Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or modifies any guarantee, right or remedy you have under the Australian Consumer Law. Where the law says you are entitled to a remedy, you are entitled to it, whatever else is written here.

Beyond that, and to the extent the law allows, our liability to you is limited to the price you paid for your ticket. We are not liable for personal property you lose or damage on the night, for travel or accommodation you booked around the event, or for the acts of the vessel operator or its crew.

These terms are governed by the law of New South Wales, and the courts of New South Wales have jurisdiction.

We may update these terms. The version that applies to your ticket is the one published when you bought it, and the date at the top of this page tells you which that is.