New Year's Eve 2015 was the night Sydney grew up and celebrated responsibly, with police and health professionals saying the message about alcohol-fuelled violence is beginning to sink in.

Arrests were down on previous years and while NSW Ambulance paramedics were busy, call-outs mainly related to minor injuries.

The director of emergency department at St Vincent's Hospital, Professor Gordian Fulde, said the decline in violent incidents made the night the "best New Year's Eve ever".

"We have seen the devastation caused by excess alcohol consumption in previous years and it would appear the message is finally getting through," he said.