A range of changes to the NSW liquor laws to support a thriving and vibrant night-time economy and the associated music and cultural sector were introduced into NSW Parliament in November 2023. These changes will come into force in a staged approach commencing from mid-December and throughout 2024.
The reforms are part of the NSW Government’s Vibrancy Reforms, which aim to encourage the return of music, live performance, local street life and a vibrant night life that doesn’t come at the expense of safety.
The following information highlights the key changes to the NSW liquor licensing framework. You can read it all or click on the ones that interest you. Further information on other changes will be communicated throughout 2024.
The standard trading period for consumption on premises on Sundays has been changed to be 5am to midnight on all days of the week, meaning Sunday standard trading hours is the same as every other day of the week.
This new standard trading period does not override existing liquor trading times on individual liquor licences, and the standard six-hour closure period will still apply.
Any venue seeking to change their trading times on their liquor licence so they can trade during the new Sunday standard trading period will need to apply to have their hours amended. This can be done through a change of conditions application to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
To apply for a change of liquor licence conditions, please complete this application form.
The standard trading period for small bars has been changed so that it will commence at 10am.
Any venue seeking to change their trading times on their liquor licence so they can trade during the new standard trading period will need to apply to have their hours amended. This can be done, through a change of conditions application to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
For more information please visit the Small bar licence webpage.
Hotels are now able to apply for extended trading between midnight on Sunday and 5am on Monday morning like other venues and other nights of the week.
To apply for an extended trading authorisation, please complete this application form.
For more information please visit the Hotel licence webpage.
Changes have been made to allow live music and performance venues to trade for an additional 2 hours. This extended trading incentive will only be available on nights where venues are hosting live music or other arts and cultural events, and the development consent for the venue permits the extended trading.
To qualify for the incentive, venues must have a specific live performance space, hold two live music or other arts and cultural events on different days in a 7-day period and schedule the performances after 8pm for 45 minutes or more.
Live music and live performance venues also receive an 80% reduction on annual base fee and trading hours risk loading each year.
To apply to be on the list of live music and performance venues, please complete this application.
For more information including record keeping requirements, please visit the Incentives for live music and performance venues webpage.
Participating venues inside Special Entertainment Precincts will be permitted to trade an extra 60 minutes on all days of the week, and 2 hours on nights where venues are hosting live music venues.
To qualify for this incentive, venues must hold two live music or other arts and cultural events on different days in a 7-day period and schedule the performances after 8pm for 45 minutes or more.
Venues that are located within a Special Entertainment Precinct will be contacted by Liquor & Gaming NSW to receive the incentives.
The list of eligible venues able to participate in special event extended trading has been expanded to include small bars, general bars and live music and performance venues. This list was previously limited to hotels and registered clubs.
Special event extended trading does not permit the use of gaming machines if they were not already able to be operated without the special event extended trading.
Special events are events that are determined by the Minister to be of regional, State or national significance.
Not all licences may be able to participate in every special event extended trading period, relevant licences will be designated and informed of the extended trading prior to the event.
These trading extensions do not affect takeaway alcohol trading times. Individual trading restrictions or other special conditions that apply to a venue’s liquor licence also remain in place for these events.
Special events are published on the Liquor & Gaming NSW website.
A special event limited licence can now be granted if the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority is satisfied that an event is infrequent or temporary, and is genuine and in the public interest, having regard to the objects of the Liquor Act 2007.
To apply for a special event limited licence, complete this application form.
For more information, please visit the Limited licence - special event webpage.
Arrangements to allow outdoor dining on private land will be made permanent. This means licensees will continue to have permanent access to a faster and more cost-effective pathway instead of having to complete a development application. All existing temporary liquor boundary change for outdoor spaces on private land and registered clubs will continue indefinitely if the land use is exempt development.
New applications for liquor boundary changes for outdoor spaces will now be able to propose an increase to the patron capacity so long as the increase is not inconsistent with the development consent or exempt provisions.
The Department of Planning and Environment recently released for public consultation a new complying development pathway to make outdoor dining permanent for patrons and businesses using private areas such as courtyards or bowling greens for dining. Consultation on the requirements has closed and they are being refined following public feedback which called for improvements to protect neighbour’s amenity and patron safety.
For more information including how to apply for outdoor dining, please visit the outdoor dining webpage.
Councils can continue to approve outdoor dining and performance on roads and footpaths without requiring approval from NSW Government.
Councils will now have the ongoing power to allow outdoor spaces in their local government areas, by streamlining councils’ consultation requirements under various pieces of NSW legislation.
Unaccompanied minors are now prohibited from entering or remaining in;
A responsible adult must also not leave a minor unaccompanied in these areas.
The restriction does not capture situations where:
Certain venues may be eligible to apply for an exemption from this restriction and/or and for minors to be able to work in the licensed premises.
Depending on the type of business, the licensed premises may display either 3L or 9L signage.
The use of this signage has been included in the:
Displaying the signage is not currently mandatory under the Liquor Regulation 2018. However, displaying signage may be part of 'reasonable precautions' taken by the licensee and used as evidence to satisfy the defence to the offence in s.124 of the Liquor Act 2007. Under subsection (6A), it is a defence for a licensee if it is proved that, at the time of the alleged offence, they had taken all reasonable precautions to avoid commission of the alleged offence.
Although the new signage is not currently statutorily defined, licensees may refer to the guidance material for comparable existing signage requirements in the Liquor Regulation which require signage to be:
Yes. L&GNSW intends that the signage requirement will be made mandatory by adding it to the Liquor Regulation later in 2024. Further advice will be provided to industry before these changes come into effect.
For more information, please visit the minors in licensed venues webpage.
Changes have been made to the producer/wholesaler licence to enable them to grow and diversify their offerings. The changes allow producers to:
These changes ensure all NSW liquor producers can run multiple premises under the one licence provided the sites are in reasonable proximity, and are:
Producers that want to operate multiple premises under the one licence will need to apply for a change of boundaries for the existing licence to extend the licence boundary and add the new address through the liquor licence manager.
For more information, visit the producer/wholesaler licence webpage.
Any natural person may make a submission or complaint under the Liquor Act, regarding a liquor licence application or an application to vary or revoke a liquor licence condition. Changes mean that an individual’s ability to make a submission to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority cannot be prohibited by any contract or agreement made.
For more information on how to make a submission to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority, please see this factsheet.
Contract caterers on club premises can now sell alcohol under a club’s liquor licence, subject to appropriate controls. The definition of “employee” in the Liquor Act has been expanded to include contract caterers and their employees, only for the purposes of enabling them to sell liquor under the club’s licence.
Contract staff selling or serving liquor under the club’s licence will be required to hold a recognised competency card or RSA.
Alcohol-free products are now able to be sold at licensed and unlicensed premises. This change allows non-alcoholic products labelled or promoted as ‘beer or spirits’ to be sold without a liquor licence.
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.
Clubs that had unrestricted trading prior to 1 July 2008 will no longer be disadvantaged by moving to a new premises, as long as that premises is similar to their current location.
Clubs must meet certain criteria to retain their unrestricted trading, including that they must only move from a “like to like” premises.
For example, clubs moving to premises with the same zoning requirements and within five kilometres of their current premises will not be required to give up their unrestricted trading licence.
Clubs will still need to apply to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority to retain unrestricted trading.
This application process will require the club to consult with the NSW Police Force and the local community, as well as meeting the requirements of the development application process.
For more information, please see the Club licence webpage.
Incident register requirements have been changed to require any incident required to be entered into a register to be done as soon as is practicable or within 24 hours of the incident. These changes provide a clear timeframe for incidents to be registered and allows for timely investigations.
This change will support a more effective investigation or remedial action following an incident.
For more information, please visit the incident register webpage.
Liquor & Gaming NSW is now able to give a licensee under gaming and liquor legislation, or an employee or agent, a written direction about any matter relating to the licensed premises, including conduct on the licensed premises, or the supervision or control of the licensed premises.
A licensee, employee or agent to whom a direction is given must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply with the direction.
Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.
The new improvement notice framework will give licensees the opportunity to fix breaches and compliance issues before escalated action is taken.
Improvement notices will work as remedial enforcement action and support an improvement-focused approach to minor breaches, in addition to the existing enforcement options that are available.
An improvement notice may be issued by Liquor & Gaming NSW to a licensee, or an employee or agent, in relation to a contravention of the Liquor Act or regulations (except for demerit offences), or about any other matter relating to the licensed premises.
The improvement notice will include a direction about the action that must be taken by the relevant person to rectify the contravention of the Act and the date by which the rectification must occur.
Licensed premises can continue trading during the period given to satisfy the improvement notice. This provides a cooperative and continuous-improvement approach to compliance.
Further guidance material on improvement notices is currently being developed and will be published at a later stage.
Liquor & Gaming NSW may now impose an enforceable undertaking as an alternative to prosecution through the courts.
An enforceable undertaking is a legally binding agreement between Liquor & Gaming NSW and a licensee. The licensee is required to carry out the specific activities in the undertaking.
Through an enforceable undertaking, Liquor & Gaming NSW may require a licensee to give an undertaking to do, or refrain from doing something if the licensee has breached the Liquor Act, or if it is reasonably believed the licensee has breached the Act. Liquor & Gaming NSW may also invite a licensee to give an enforceable undertaking to prevent a risk of potential harm.
Disciplinary action may not be taken in relation to the breach or alleged breach while the enforceable undertaking is in place.
Failure to comply with the enforceable undertaking may be certified with the Supreme Court, who may punish the licensee as if the licensee were in contempt of Court and/or order the licensee to comply with the enforceable undertaking.
Further guidance material on enforceable undertaking is currently being developed and will be published at a later stage.
The requirement for ID scanners to be used for venues in prescribed precincts under the Liquor Act 2007 has been removed. If businesses still wish to voluntarily use ID Scanners, they may do so.
Any licensee who currently has a Privacy Endorsement, required for the operation of ID scanners, will retain the Endorsement on their competency card.
Precinct-based venue fees in the Kings Cross and Sydney CBD Entertainment precincts have been removed. This means that venues in those areas will be subject to the same fees as the rest of NSW. Precinct-based fees already paid will not be refunded.
For more information, please visit the annual liquor licensing fees webpage.
The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority may now revoke a person’s RSA in certain high-risk situations where the person has been charged with, or found guilty of, a serious indictable offence involving violence that was:
Changes have also been made to allow the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority to immediately suspend a person’s RSA as soon as the notice has been provided to the person, while a formal determination is made on the revocation or permanently disqualify a person from holding a recognised competency card or a particular recognised competency card endorsement, or for a period specified (rather than previous limit 12-month maximum disqualification period).
Changes to the Liquor Act clarify existing requirements and ensure a responsible person from a licenced venue cannot:
The reforms will prevent credit cards and debit cards being misused in order to give a person cash to gamble. Venues will be required to record when money is being provided to a person, as part of a transaction using a credit card or a debit card, or when extending other forms of credit to a person on licensed premises.
The Vibrancy Reform package includes a number of other reforms to the NSW Liquor licensing framework that will commence throughout 2024. More information on these individual reforms items will be included closer to the date of commencement.
You can contact Liquor & Gaming NSW if you would like more information about the changes.
