Liquor permit rules and eligibility
These rules and conditions apply to communities where alcohol permits are required.
Communities may have additional conditions that you must follow, such as:
- purchase limits
- transporting of alcohol
- visitor and tourist eligibility
Permit eligibility
To hold a permit, you must be at least 18 years old.
You must also meet the conditions of the permit for the community you are applying for. Some communities do not issue permits to visitors.
If you breach the conditions below, you will be refused a permit or have your permit revoked.
This applies if you:
- cause substantial annoyance or disruption of community order and peace, or are given a police-issued banned drinker order (BDO) of 3 months or greater. This includes:
- public drunkenness
- minor liquor-related antisocial behaviour/disturbances
- ‘humbugging’ or begging.
- leave liquor-related waste within the restricted area
- illegally bring liquor into or have liquor in a restricted area
- are charged with:
- any liquor-related offence not listed on this page and punishable by no more than 6 months imprisonment
- low range drink driving – blood alcohol between .05% and .08%
- unlawful possession, supply or transport of kava.
This applies if you are:
- banned from a licensed premises or served with a trespass notice from a licensed premises or public/private event within the restricted area
- a driver who is on alcohol restrictions of 0.0% blood alcohol and who is charged with a drink driving offence
- charged with:
- medium range drink driving – blood alcohol between .08% and .15%
- any liquor-related offence not listed on this page and punishable by up to 2 years of imprisonment.
This applies if you:
- supply liquor to a person under the age of 18 years.
- supply liquor to another person who is not a guest of the permit holder, and that person resides within the restricted area
- assault any person
- are involved in liquor-related domestic or family violence
- are issued an NT Police Force:
- restraining order
- domestic violence order with non-intox conditions
- any court order with non-intox conditions.
- fail to submit to breath analysis
- are charged with:
- the supply of a dangerous drug to another person, or possession of a trafficable quantity of a dangerous drug or kava
- high range driving – blood alcohol content of .15% or greater
- any liquor-related offence not listed on this page that is punishable by imprisonment of more than 2 years
- commit any liquor-related serious crime.
Read more about when your permit can be denied or revoked and how to appeal a decision.
Where you can drink alcohol
If you have a permit, you can drink your own alcohol:
- in your home
- in another permit holder's home if they have invited you.
Who you can share your alcohol with
An invited guest can only drink in your home if they are:
- a visitor to the community, or
- a permit holder from the same community.
Changes to your liquor permit conditions
Permit conditions can change, usually at the request of the community or as an outcome of community consultation.
If this happens you will be notified through public messaging and may be reissued with an updated permit.
Examples of when permits may be temporarily suspended or revoked include:
- during periods of unrest or distress within the community
- large gatherings such as sports or cultural events
- natural disasters such as flooding or cyclones.
Fines
Get the unit value of a penalty unit (PU) on the Attorney-General's Department website.
Fines related to permits
| Offence | Infringement penalty | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Contravene a condition of a permit for a restricted area | 1 PU | 20 PU |
| Failure to return a revoked permit when requested to by police or inspector | 1 PU | 20 PU |
Fines related to alcohol in a restricted area
| Offence | Infringement penalty | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|---|
| Bring into, possess, control, consume, sell, supply or serve liquor in an interim alcohol protected area (APA) | No infringement, up to maximum penalty applies | 200 PU or 12 months jail |
| Bring into, possess, control, consume, sell, supply or serve liquor in a general restricted area (GRA) | 2 PU | 200 PU or 12 months jail |
| Bring into, possess, control, consume, sell, supply or serve liquor in a special restricted area (SRA) | 2 PU | 200 PU or 12 months jail |