Licensing, Liquor & Gaming
3. Liquor Licensee Obligations
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 06 Aug 2015
- Australia has a thriving hospitality industry that has the important responsibility of selling liquor.
- Each state and territory has in place a wide range of laws and regulations that reflect these responsibilities. These laws lay out the important obligations licensees have when selling liquor.
- These laws and regulations cover areas such as:
- specific licensing conditions;
- responsible service of alcohol;
- the use of appropriate signage;
- fire safety;
- implications for the surrounding area;
- administration and record keeping; and
- compliance and auditing procedures.
- If you or your business wants to sell alcohol to members of the public then you must apply for a licence.
- The particular type of liquor licence you will need depends largely on how you plan to supply the alcohol. The types of licence you can apply for include:
- temporary licences;
- permanent licences;
- nightclub licences;
- BYO permits; and
- late night licences.
- Some businesses do not need to get a licence to serve alcohol.
- Specific conditions must be satisfied before you will be granted a business exception.
- For example a bed and breakfast business would usually be exempt from holding a liquor licence.
- It is your responsibility to find out exactly how the law applies to your situation. To qualify for an exemption you will need to make sure you continue to meet the requirements for that exemption and run your business in line with that.
- If you run your business and serve liquor without the correct licence or an exemption then you are not complying with your licensee obligations and may be committing an offence.
- You are likely to receive a fine or sanction (penalty) for supplying alcohol without a licence.
- This is a serious offence. In some states and territories fines can be $30,000 or more or 2 years imprisonment.
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