Liquor licence types

If you want to apply for a liquor licence, you must work out what type of liquor licence authority you need. Liquor authorities set the rules and conditions of a liquor licence.

There are different types to choose from depending on your business type and the activities you want to run. You may need to apply for more than one authority.

Example

If you want to run a pub and trade late at night, you would apply for the following two authorities:

public bar
late night.

Common types of licences

Licence authority	Example of when it may be needed
Restaurant	Restaurant or cafe selling alcohol with food.
Restaurant bar	Restaurant selling alcohol without food being purchased.
Bring your own (BYO)	Restaurant that lets customers bring their own alcohol to have with a meal.
Small bar	Bar that fits 100 people or less and serves light meals like sandwiches, pies or finger food.
Public bar	Pub with lunch and dinner meals.
Lodging	Accommodation selling alcohol through a minibar or room service.
Wayside inn	Wayside inn selling alcohol to patrons and guests.
Special event	Wedding, wake or party at either a licensed premises that is outside of normal licensed hours, or a non-licensed location such as a park or community hall.
Major event	Large festival, concert or other event with more than 1,500 people in the liquor licensed area. For example, V8 Supercars, Bass in the Grass.

All authorities and conditions

Types of authorities, associated conditions and their risk classifications are listed below. The risk classification of your authority goes towards calculating the annual fee you need to pay for your licence.

Restaurants

Restaurant

Risk classification: low

This authority lets you sell alcohol to patrons with food at the premises.

Key conditions include:

Standard days and hours of trade are 10am to midnight every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Trade on Good Friday and Christmas Day is allowed from 11am to 9pm as long as you only sell alcohol to patrons who buy a full meal during those hours. Full meal means a meal expected to be served at a restaurant that is eaten when seated at a table or bar.
Standard hours on New Year’s Eve can be extended from midnight to 2am as long as you notify the Director of Liquor Licensing before 3 December each year.
The kitchen must remain open during the hours of operation until 1.5 hours before the licensed premises closes.

Restaurant bar

Risk classification: moderate

You can apply for this authority if you have or are applying for a restaurant authority. It lets you sell alcohol to patrons with or without food at the premises.

Key conditions include:

A patron does not have to buy a meal to buy alcohol.
Standard days and hours of trade are 10am to midnight every day except Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Trade on Good Friday and Christmas Day is allowed from 11am to 9pm as long as you only sell alcohol to patrons who buy a full meal during those hours.
Standard hours on New Year’s Eve can be extended from midnight to 2am as long as you notify the Director of Liquor of Licensing before 3 December each year.
The kitchen must remain open during the hours of operation until 1.5 hours before the licensed premises closes.
The licensed premises must look like a restaurant.

Bring your own (BYO)

Risk classification: very low

This authority allows you to serve alcohol brought by a patron to have with their meal at your restaurant or cafe.

If you run a BYO restaurant, you will need to apply for a liquor licence by 1 June 2021 to be able to trade past 1 October 2021.

Takeaway

Risk classification: very high

A takeaway authority allows you to sell alcohol to customers who will drink it away from the licensed premises.

Only existing takeaway liquor outlets will be able to operate under this authority. No further takeaway licences will be considered until at least 31 August 2024.

Wine must not be sold in a cask or box larger than 2L. Beer must not be sold in glass bottles larger than 750ml.

There are other key conditions to include with takeaway authorities for locations listed below.