Use space to open navigation items
compliance
23 February 2022

Statement of Regulatory Intent - Regulatory approach in the context of Covid-19

(Effective from 14 March 2022, updated 17 August 2022)

This statement sets out the enforcement approach that Liquor & Gaming NSW will take to compliance with certain specified requirements as set out under the Liquor Act 2007 and the Liquor Regulation 2018 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liquor & Gaming NSW recognises that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an exceptional set of circumstances and has significant impacts on the businesses we regulate.

We appreciate that these exceptional circumstances require flexibility on the part of the regulator.

Take-away liquor sales and home deliveries

Not all licensed premises are authorised to sell liquor for consumption off premises.

Notwithstanding this, Liquor & Gaming NSW took a relaxed approach to compliance with these requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This included where licensed premises, such as a restaurant, café or small bar, did not have the authorisation to sell or supply liquor for consumption away from the premises but wished to provide take-away and/or home delivery services.

This approach recognised that Public Health Orders had imposed restrictions on normal trade at licensed premises, including density limits that restricted the number of patrons that could be on these premises.

Despite the removal of density limits, the NSW Government has announced plans to allow these types of premises to sell take-away and home deliveries on an ongoing basis, provided additional conditions apply. This follows a formal evaluation of the temporary arrangements in 2021.

As part of interim measures to implement this change, Liquor & Gaming NSW will continue to take a relaxed enforcement approach and allow take-away liquor sales and home delivery provided all the following conditions are all met:

  • the liquor is being sold and supplied from licensed premises that operate under:
    • an on-premises licence that relates to a restaurant (a ‘licensed restaurant’), or
    • a small bar licence,
  • the liquor is purchased together with a genuine meal that is being taken away or delivered for consumption away from those premises, and each customer’s order is limited to:
    • one sealed bottle of wine up to 750ml; or
    • up to six sealed containers with a combined maximum volume of 2.25 litres of either:
      • beer,
      • cider,
      • ready to drink alcoholic beverages pre-mixed away from the licensed premises, or
    • for licensed restaurants onlyup to four house-made cocktails (alcoholic beverages mixed on the licensed premises) in sealed containers with a combined maximum volume of 1 litre (note: premises operating under the small bar licence are authorised under section 20A of the Liquor Act 2007 to sell house-made cocktails in sealed containers for take-away and home delivery without the above meal conditions or quantity limits).

As part of the interim measures, venues are automatically ineligible to rely on this Statement to offer take-away liquor or home delivery if they have a recent history of poor compliance with the liquor laws. A restaurant or small bar is ineligible if:

  • a demerit point under Part 9A of the Liquor Act 2007 was imposed or incurred against the licensee or manager (current or former) at any time in the past 12 months for a serious liquor law breach or a prescribed complaint relating to the licensed premises; and
  • the demerit point remains current (i.e. it has not been revoked).

Other conditions applying to take-away and home-delivery under this Statement.

Any sale of liquor, including take-away sales and taking or processing orders for home delivery, must occur from the registered address of the licensed premises.

All licensed premises making take-away sales or undertaking home deliveries should have a system of controls in place to ensure that liquor is not sold to minors or to intoxicated persons. If offering same day delivery, they must comply with all relevant NSW alcohol delivery laws – for example, this includes:

Take-away and home deliveries must not occur outside of the authorised trading hours of the licensed premises or beyond the standard take-away trading times in NSW (whichever is more restrictive). They are not permitted on restricted trading days such as Christmas Day and Good Friday. Same day alcohol deliveries cannot commence on any day before 9am or continue beyond midnight (or 11pm Sundays).

This website contains more information on appropriate evidence of age and prevention of intoxication and trading times, which may assist in preparing policies and procedures and clarifying legislative obligations.

Promotion and sale of alcohol-free beer and spirits

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Liquor & Gaming NSW has noticed an increase in customer enquiries about whether a liquor licence is needed to sell alcohol-free or ultra-light alcoholic beverages held out to be “beer” or “spirits”.

Liquor & Gaming NSW appreciates that the drivers of demand for these products have changed over the years as part of health and wellness trends, as health and moderation-conscious consumers are seeking out alternatives to alcohol. It is also recognised that current legislation can impose barriers to the sale of products such as alcohol-free beer by unlicensed premises.

As such, Liquor & Gaming NSW will take a flexible, risk-based approach to enforcing the liquor laws surrounding the sale and supply of these products. Regulatory action is unlikely to be taken in respect to their promotion and sale within unlicensed environments, where they do not contain more than the 1.15% ABV threshold considered to be ‘liquor’ under the Liquor Act 2007. However, Liquor & Gaming NSW will continue to respond to community complaints and may take action in exceptional circumstances, including where any business acts irresponsibly when promoting or selling them.

These products should never be promoted in ways that could be considered to have special appeal to minors or pose significant risk to public safety and community wellbeing. In these circumstances, regulatory action could be taken in line with the NSW Liquor Promotion Guidelines PDF, 288.36 KB.

More information

Liquor & Gaming NSW will generally take a supportive and educative approach to compliance with the above requirements during this time except in cases of significant risks to patrons or the community. We will also take into consideration genuine attempts to comply with liquor licence conditions and other requirements.

We will continue to monitor the situation and engage with industry and industry representatives as appropriate.

For more information please refer to the NSW Government website.