An incident register is a record of certain types of incidents that occur at a licensed venue.
An incident register is mandatory if you are the licensee of a venue that is:
Maintaining an incident register will give you a better understanding of events that affect the safety of your venue and patrons.
It will also help you to develop appropriate strategies to reduce the risk of alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour at your venue.
We encourage all licensees to maintain an incident register even if it is not a requirement for your venue. They are a useful compliance tool, and can form part of your venue's responsible practice.
You should procedures in place to ensure your incident register is carefully maintained. You may delegate this responsibility to managers or other key staff at your venue. However, it is the legal obligation of the licensee and approved manager to ensure the incident register is appropriately maintained.
The types of incidents you must record in your register are outlined in Section 56 of the Liquor Act 2007 and Section 42 in the Liquor Regulation 2018
Venues should also report other things that help you gain a more complete understanding of events that affect the safety of your venue and patrons, and incidents that affect your venue's operations:
Your incident register should also record the details of all incidents that occur outside of the standard trading period for your licence type.
You are required to record the details of all incidents regardless of the time of day at which they occur if your venue is:
You must also record the details of any action you take in response to an incident. An incident register can be in paper or digital form.
If information is required to be recorded in an incident register under subsection (2) or (3) about an incident, the licensee must ensure the information is recorded as soon as practicable, but no later than 24 hours, after the incident occurs.
As licensee or approved manager, educate your staff about the value of maintaining an incident register so they understand its importance in supporting a safe and responsible venue.
Regularly reviewing how you record incidents with staff, as soon as possible after each incident, will help you to be consistent and accurate.
Venues in the Kings Cross or Sydney CBD Entertainment precincts, must maintain an incident register in a format approved by us.
Venues are permitted to maintain an incident register in either bound book or digital format. If you choose to use a digital form of incident register then you may stop entering incidents in the paper book register.
Through consultation with industry, we designed a user-friendly format with two parts:
Registers are A4 size and wire bound for durability. Flexible plastic covers protect against spillages or damp surfaces.
We recommend using the approved incident register book available from us or a digital incident register matching the requirements of the physical incident register, rather than creating a format of your own that may not be compliant.
The use of digital incident registers is encouraged for licensed venues across NSW and has been approved, provided:
If your venue is not in a precinct, you can use any of the following:
The digital incident register (DIR) register must include pre-designated fields for recording information on the above reportable incident types. Venues may choose to record details of other, less serious incidents for best practice.
Any DIR must display the following information on its screen directly before or after user login:
“The law requires all licensed venues in the Kings Cross and CBD precincts to keep an incident register at all times.”
The DIR must include mandatory, voluntary and/or pre-filled fields with standardised text. The required fields include - but are not limited to:
All required incidents must be entered in the DIRas soon as possible after the event and within one hour.
A more detailed account must be completed as soon as possible, and within six hours. This should outline any reportable incident that involves violence, anti-social behaviour, when patrons are asked to leave, or when an injury occurs that requires medical assistance.
Software for an DIR must provide the following features:
Any information recorded in the DIR, and any reports generated from it, must be able to be:
Licensed venues must be able to access any digital data records upon request regardless of any contractual arrangements with the software or internet provider. Venues may choose to download their DIR onto their own digital devices or print out paper-based versions of incident reports.
The DIR software must also:
Our compliance inspectors and police review incident registers when they audit a licensed premises. You may face prosecution if you don't maintain your incident register properly.
Incident registers cost $34.99 and can be ordered by visiting the NSW Government's online shop – Liquor & Gaming online shop.
Discounts are available for bulk orders of 20 or more. Please visit the NSW Government's online shop – Liquor & Gaming online shop.
T: 1300 024 720 | Monday to Friday | 9am - 4pmE: contact.us@liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au