Rules for liquor permit holders

Liquor permits were set up to help communities deal with violence and alcohol-related crime.

You can lose your permit if you have an alcohol ban from any of the following:

• a court
• probation or parole conditions
• an alcohol mandatory treatment tribunal aftercare order
• an alcohol protection order.

Breaches of your permit

Your permit could be revoked if you commit any breaches listed in the conditions of your permit. Breaches are broken into 3 categories:

Major breaches

If you are found guilty of committing a major breach, your permit will be cancelled for 12 months. If you commit 2 major breaches, you will receive a 2-year ban.

Major breaches include any of the following:

• supplying alcohol to a person:
  • under the age of 18
  • who lives in the restricted area but doesn't have a permit
• alcohol-related assaults
• found possessing, using or selling drugs
• high range drink-driving
• refusing to give a breath test for drink-driving
• alcohol-related car accidents
• illegally having or supplying kava.

Moderate breaches

Your permit will be suspended for 6 months if you are found guilty of a moderate breach. If you commit any 2 moderate breaches you will receive a one-year ban from being able to get a permit.

Moderate breaches include any of the following:

• being banned from any licensed drinking venue
• receiving a trespass notice from a licensed venue or a public or private event
• drink-driving offences where your blood alcohol level is between .08% and .15%
• drink-driving offences where you have a restricted blood alcohol level of 0.0%
• not properly securing alcohol.

Minor breaches

Your permit could be suspended for 3 months if you are found guilty of a minor breach. If you commit any 2 minor breaches, you will receive a 12-month ban from being able to get a permit.

Minor breaches include any of the following:

• any alcohol-related crimes
• being given an alcohol protection order
• public drunkenness
• antisocial behaviour
• begging
• leaving empty alcohol bottles in a restricted area
• low range drink-driving offences where your blood alcohol level is between .05% and .08%.

If your permit is suspended or revoked

If your liquor permit has been suspended you can legally challenge the decision.

Once your permit is taken away you will be sent a show cause notice in the mail from the permit committee.

You will have 7 days from receiving the notice to write a letter explaining why your permit should be reinstated.

To reapply for a permit after a ban has finished, you will need to show the permit committee all of the following in writing:

• you are a fit and proper person responsible enough to have your permit reinstated
• you haven't committed any further alcohol-related offences during the suspension period
• you are sorry for what happened and accept responsibility.

Apply for a review

If your permit has been revoked you have 28 days from receiving your Show Cause notice to apply for a review.

To apply follow these steps:

Step 1. Fill in the application for review of delegate decision.

Application for review of delegate decision DOCX (694.2 KB)
Application for review of delegate decision PDF (558.9 KB).

Step 2. Submit the form to your local Territory Business Centre.

Step 3. Your application will be reviewed by the director-general of licensing.

Get your permit voluntarily revoked

You can have your liquor permit voluntarily revoked by contacting your local permit office or police station.

If you want your permit reinstated you will need to write to the permit committee to have the ban lifted.

Special circumstances

You can also have your liquor permit taken away or changed if one of the following applies:

• you have health problems related to drinking alcohol
• your or other people's safety is at risk by drinking alcohol
• you have a written letter from a doctor asking that your drink less.

Temporary bans

Permits can be temporarily suspended when there is community unrest or distress.

Your permit can also be temporarily revoked when there is a natural disaster like a cyclone. You must not drink alcohol during these periods.