Every holder of a NSW liquor licence is required to pay an annual liquor licence fee.
Liquor licensing in NSW is built on a framework where the industry contributes to the cost of its regulation.
Annual liquor licence fees are calculated by Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) on 15 March each year using licence information held by the NSW Government.
Important dates:
The annual liquor licence fee is calculated on the following model:
For example: If you are a late trading premises and have a poor compliance history, your business will be identified as high-risk and attract additional risk-based loadings.
Dedicated live music and performance venues, including participating venues located in Special Entertainment Precincts, are eligible for an 80% discount on base fee and trading hours risk loading if they meet certain criteria. Only eligible venues that are included on Liquor & Gaming NSW’s live music and performance venues published list can access the discount.
To learn more visit: Incentives for live music and performance venues - Liquor & Gaming NSW
You will miss important information about your liquor licence if your contact details are not up to date.
The Annual Liquor Licence Fee payment notices and reminders are sent to the individual licensee or the primary contact person listed on your licence.
Check and update your details online
*Venues 3 years and older whose licensees and managers have not incurred any demerit points in the last 3 years will be given a 5% discount on the base fee and trading hours risk loading portion of the annual liquor licence fee.
Find out more about trading hours risk loading conditions and exemptions
Compliance risk loadings apply if, in the past calendar year:
Compliance risk loadings include two factors:
A demerit offence is a serious breach of liquor legislation.
Licensees, managers and clubs will incur demerit points for committing demerit offences or via a prescribed complaint.
Most demerit offences result in 1 demerit point. Offences involving the sale or supply of liquor to minors result in 2 demerit points. Demerit points expire after 3 years.
Demerit points result in additional loadings attached to the annual liquor licence fee of a venue.
For a list of demerit offences and prescribed complaints, please refer to the Incentives and Demerit Point System fact sheet PDF, 444 KB.
The patron capacity risk loading only applies if you are also required to pay a compliance history risk loading. Your patron capacity risk loading is based on the number of people your premises is allowed to hold.
Note: Accommodation areas are not included in the patron capacity of a licensed premises.
FInd out more about compliance risk loadings.
If you do not pay your licence fees by 26 June 2025, your licence will be suspended and a late payment fee of $133 will be applied to the unpaid licence fees.
Applications to waive the late payment fee will open on 27 June 2025 and close on 25 July 2025.
It is illegal to sell or supply liquor with a suspended licence.
If you do not pay your annual liquor licence fee and late payment fee by 25 July 2025, your liquor licence will be cancelled on 26 July 2025.
If your licence is cancelled and you still want to sell or supply liquor, you will need to apply for a licence reinstatement. A reinstatement fee of $329 will apply in addition to your annual liquor licence fee and a late payment fee of $133.
Applications for licence reinstatements will open on 26 July 2025 and close on 22 September 2025. Your liquor licence will be permanently cancelled if any fees are owed after this date.
You will need to apply for a new liquor licence to continue to sell or supply alcohol.
If the licensee has changed and you need to transfer your licence, please complete the reinstatement application first and wait for this to be processed before proceeding with the transfer application.
It is illegal to sell or supply liquor with a suspended or cancelled liquor licence.
Your annual liquor licence fee notice will include:
BPAY is no longer available. Surcharge free payment can be made using one of the following methods.
You can visit one of the following websites to pay your annual liquor licence fee notice online.
Liquor Licence Manager and the Service NSW payment portal include options to use the following secure payment methods:
Call Service NSW on 1300 024 720.
Applications for fee waivers based on financial hardship for the 2025 Annual Liquor Licence Fee cycle will open on 7 April 2025 and close on 22 May 2025.
Supporting documentation that shows evidence of financial hardship must accompany the application.
Applications for the annual liquor fee reassessment will open on 7 April 2025 and close on 25 July 2025.
You still need to pay an annual liquor licence fee if you are currently not trading.
If you have ceased trading or your licence has been temporarily or voluntarily suspended, you still need to pay your annual liquor licence fee because your licence is still valid.
If you surrender your liquor licence, you should not pay the annual liquor licence fee as you will no longer have a liquor licence.
Businesses can register for a Liquor Licence Manager (LLM) account to centralise their liquor licences. LLM is a digital tool that gives you greater visibility and control over liquor licence applications and payments by combining liquor licences in a single location.
A LLM account will allow you to access all Annual Liquor Licence Fee invoices related to your business’ various liquor licences within your account and pay the fees in one go.
To add a licence to your LLM account, you (an individual) must hold one of the following roles on all liquor licences you wish to add to you LLM account:
If you hold a role on a licence that is not listed above, the licence cannot be added to the account.
Visit Liquor Licence Manager for more information on LLM including eligibility requirements and how to register.
If your business decides not to register for a LLM account, all annual fee notices and communications will be sent to the individual licensee or the primary contact person listed on the licence.
No. The licence fee must be paid in full.
Yes, you can pay the annual liquor licence fee with the details provided on the payment notice.
If you are a new licensee, business owner or premises owner for the venue you can visit the online form to check the contact details on the licence record. It is your responsibility to ensure the contact details listed on the licence record are current so that you do not miss any important communication from L&GNSW.
If your licence details have changed, you can update the details using the online form
If the licensee has recently changed, a transfer application must be lodged to ensure the new licensee is listed on the licence record.
If payment has not been received by the 29 May 2025 due date, L&GNSW will send a Reminder payment notice via post to the premises address in June.
Payment notices will also be posted to the premises address if the licence has not been paid by the 27 June suspension date or the 26 July cancellation date.
Please check the spam and junk folders in your email account as occasionally the payment notices can be redirected by your email provider.
If you still cannot locate the payment notice, please contact 1300 024 720 or contact.us@liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au and we will resend the payment notice to you.
If the licensee or appointed contact person has left the venue, the business owner or premises owner can contact us to request a copy of the payment notice. Please check and update your details via our online form
If you have left your role as a licensee, manager or contact person at the venue, you need to be taken off the licence record.
A licence transfer, update of contact person details or change of appointed manager application will need to be lodged.
If you are having trouble completing the online form, please email us at contact.us@liquorandgaming.com.au to request to be taken off the licence. Please include the licence number, licence name and the date you left your ex-employer in the email.
You are not responsible for the payment of the annual liquor licence fees. Please forward the payment notice to your ex-employer for them to action accordingly.
No. There is no partial refund for liquor licences that have ceased trading during the year.
Please use one of the payment methods provided on the payment notice to make payment.
Online payment using a credit or debit card is recommended to immediately un-suspend your licence. There may be a 24 hour hold on first time payments to a new payee using PayID.
To confirm if you can recommence trading after making payment, please check the Public Register to confirm that the suspension has been lifted. The status of your licence should be listed as ‘Current’ once payment has been received.
If you have applied for a Fee Waiver or Fee Reassessment and have not been informed of the outcome of your application before the 27 June 2025 suspension date, you are required to pay the annual liquor licence fees in full before 27 June 2025 if you wish to continue trading.
If you do not pay the annual fees before 27 June 2025, your licence will be suspended with a late payment fee added to your total fee.
If your application is successful after payment has been made, a refund will be issued to you for the amount waived.
L&GNSW aims to assess all applications before the 27 June 2025 suspension date. However, our assessment may be delayed if an application is submitted close to the due date or we have received a large volume of applications.
If you do not pay your annual liquor licence fee by 25 July 2025, your licence will be cancelled.
If your licence is cancelled and you still want to sell or supply liquor, you need to apply for a licence reinstatement. A reinstatement fee of $329 applies in addition to your annual liquor licence fee and a late payment fee of $133.
Applications for licence reinstatements will open on 26 July 2025 and close on 22 September 2025.
Your liquor licence will be permanently cancelled if any fees are owed after this date and you will need to apply for a new liquor licence to continue to sell or supply alcohol.
