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Consultations for community

The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) invites feedback from the community and industry on a range of matters. You can find out what is happening in your local area and share your opinions on the following projects:

Final decision on review of licence conditions of 14 Newcastle CBD venues

ILGA has published its final decision PDF, 235.61 KB on the review of licence conditions for 14 hotel venues in the Newcastle CBD.

After ILGA's initial response to the review PDF, 156.03 KB was published and communicated to stakeholders in April 2018, licensees had, under law, a period of 21 days to respond.

Following this period ILGA considered any submissions from licensees, and has now agreed to implement the findings as originally stated with one additional variation to a condition, as follows:

#3 - Supervision of liquor service and consumption after 11 pm: 

Only if premises trade after 12:00 midnight will a licensee need to retain an employee, from 11:00pm until closure, whose sole function is to supervise responsible service of alcohol practices at the bar, and to observe the responsible consumption of alcohol throughout the premises.

This final decision follows ILGA's consideration of the report prepared by Mr Jonathan Horton QC (the Horton Report), on his independent review of the conditions imposed on the liquor licences of the 14 hotels by the former Liquor Administration Board in 2008.

ILGA also considered the submissions received by Mr Horton during the review, and the submissions from the affected licensees in response to the Authority’s proposed changes to the conditions.

Review outcome and final decision

The Authority is taking action, as outlined in its final decision PDF, 235.61 KB under section 53(2)(b) of the Liquor Act 2007, to vary and revoke some of the conditions that were imposed on the 14 hotels in 2008.

Key changes to conditions

  • revoke the condition in respect of shared radio network
  • vary the conditions in respect of:
    • Plan of Management,
    • supervision of alcohol service and consumption after 11 pm,
    • drinks restrictions after 10 pm, and
    • notification of conditions to staff.

ILGA has also decided to make no changes to:

  • the existing lockout and closing hours,
  • the conditions in respect of:
    • the cessation of liquor supply 30 minutes before closing, and
    • the prohibition on the stockpiling of drinks.

The review

The review was conducted by Mr Horton and gave the local community, police, businesses and other stakeholders a chance to have their say.

The review followed a request to ILGA by the Australian Hotels Association NSW on behalf of the 14 venues to consider revoking or changing some of the conditions.

ILGA appointed Mr Horton to conduct a broad review and consult all relevant stakeholders in the Newcastle community. The terms of reference for the review and a background paper are available here:

Submissions received

Stakeholders were invited to lodge submissions to have their say on the issues being considered.

Mr Horton conducted a process of public consultation between November 2017 and February 2018. More than 90 written submissions were received from a variety of stakeholders including NSW Police, public health bodies, academics, licensed businesses, industry bodies, private individuals and special interest groups.

On 9 May 2018 ILGA published its preliminary view that it would be appropriate to vary or revoke some of the conditions, and the proposed changes.

The 14 hotels were provided with an opportunity to comment on the proposed changes, and submissions were received from 12 of the hotels.

Important links

The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (“ILGA”) is currently considering an application for a packaged liquor licence for the premises at 19-33 Walker Street, Helensburgh. It is proposed that the premises will operate as a Liquorland liquor store.

ILGA received a number of written submissions in respect of the application and, as a result, ILGA decided to hold a public meeting in Helensburgh on 4 April 2022 to facilitate further consultation with the local community.

At the public meeting ILGA received a number of requests to publish all submissions received in respect of the application on the Liquor & Gaming NSW website in the interest of transparency and in order to facilitate a more fulsome discussion around the social impacts of approving the application, given the unusually significant amount of interest this application has generated.

ILGA has agreed to this request, and submissions received in respect of the application are now available below:

In addition, the following documents are made available below for convenience:

ILGA will now open a further, and final, submission period. Anyone who wishes to do so may make an additional submission by 5:00pm on Monday, 9 May 2022. At the conclusion of this submission period no further submissions will be accepted from members of the public. Submissions should be made via email to ilga.secretariat@liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au.

Please note – All submissions received to date will be considered when ILGA makes its determination. There is no need to make any further submission unless there are new matters to be raised outside of what was covered in previous written submissions, or in any verbal submissions made at the Helensburgh public meeting on 4 April 2022.

Any further submissions received will be put to the applicant for final comment. Once received, the applicant’s final submission PDF, 208.61 KB will be published on this page for transparency, however, no further submissions will be accepted from the community.

ILGA will then determine the application at its next Liquor & Gaming Committee meeting.