Liquor and Gaming Specialists - providing advice on liquor licensing and gaming licensing in Queensland and providing RMLV & RSA Training.
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Drink Safe Precincts and the State Election
Liquor Licensing Fees for 2011-2012
Free Training Register
Merry Christmas 2011
Christmas Trading Hours in Queensland 2012
Trading Hours on Good Friday & ANZAC Day
Training Courses May 2011 – RMLV, RSA
Extended Trading Hours Moratorium
Canvas Club
Bar Licence Applications Made Easier
LGS News
Drink Safe Precincts and the State Election
The Queensland Election is only weeks away and although liquor licensing and alcohol haven’t featured prominently so far, a few months ago the State Opposition were reportedly considering winding back trading hours across the board.
Other than a few media reports, there has been no official policy declared by the LNP. Shadow Attorney General Jarrod Bleijie is reported to have said in a statement “earlier club closing times were on the table if the LNP won government”.
The Bligh Government position on trading hours doesn’t appear to have changed since 2010 when it rejected the Law, Justice and Safety Committee’s recommendation of a reduction in trading hours, following its Enquiry Into Alcohol-Related Violence. Instead, the Government introduced the Drink Safe Precincts in Fortitude Valley, Townsville and Surfers Paradise on a 2 year trial basis.
As part of the assessment of the effectiveness of this measure, the Government is now seeking feedback from anyone who has experienced the DSPs.
To have your say visit www.qld.gov.au/drinksafe. You will be presented with a choice of four surveys, dependent on your experience of the precints.
Patron survey – if you visit pubs or clubs
Licensee survey – if you own a pub or club
Business and worker survey – all other business owners & workers, including employees on licensed premises, owners of unlicensed businesses and persons providing support services
Resident survey – if you live near the pubs and clubs
You may complete more than one survey if appropriate. For instance if you live in the area and visit pubs or clubs.
Liquor Licensing Fees for 2011-2012
Liquor licence application fees and annual licence fees are increased in line with CPI each year on 1 July. The fees for the current financial year are set out below.
| Liquor Licensing | |
| Fee Description | Application Fee |
| Application for a Liquor Licence | Commercial Hotel $5,468.90 |
| Commercial Special Facility $5,468.90 | |
| Commercial Other $1,093.75 | |
| Community Club $2,406.05 | |
| Community Other $547.35 | |
| Application for Transfer of a Liquor Licence | $274.75 |
| Application for Registration of Financial Interest | $72.10 |
| Application for a Community Liquor Permit | $55.15 per day |
| Application for New Restricted Liquor Permit | Fee is for each 3 month period: |
| (i) Sale of liquor not more than 10 hours / week – $98.60 | |
| (ii) More than 10 but less than 25 hours / week – $190.95 | |
| Application for Approved Extended Trading Hours | $164.40 |
| PLEASE NOTE: From 16 September 2009, a 12 month moratorium applies to new applications to extend trading hours beyond midnight. | |
| Application for One-Off Extended Hours Permit | $55.15 per day |
| Application for Commercial Public Event Permit (one-off public event) | $547.35 for the first day, $55.15 for each additional day |
| Application for Temporary Change in Licensed Area | $55.15 |
| Application for Temporary Variation of Licence | $55.15 |
| Application for Catering Endorsement on Licence | $72.10 |
| Application for Variation of Licence (on a permanent basis) | $164.40 |
| Application for a Detached Bottle shop | $820.00 |
| Application to Relocate a Detached Bottle shop | $141.05 |
| Application to Transfer a Detached Bottle shop | $141.05 |
| Application to Alter, Rebuild or Change the Premises | $72.10 |
| Application to Change the Licensed Area | $72.10 |
| Notification of Absence from Licensed Premises | Nil |
| Application for Temporary Authority | $72.10 |
| Application for Adult entertainment Permit | To provide adult entertainment for 1 year – $1694.20 |
| For one occasion – $656.65 | |
| Application for change of Controllers for Adult Entertainment Permit | $218.50 |
| Application to extend, on a regular basis, the hours during which adult entertainment may be provided. | $164.40 |
| Variation of hours during which adult entertainment may be provided for one occasion. | $55.15 |
| Application to make another change to an existing permit | $213.20 |
| Application for duplicate licence | $105.00 |
| Application for approval as an approved manager | $398.85 |
| Application for renewal of an approved manager | $398.85 |
| Application to conduct business under section 129 Interim Authority | $274.75 |
| Application to change the name of the premises | $72.10 |
| Application to conduct a business or supply a service on licensed premises | $72.10 |
| Application to let, sublet or enter into a management agreement | $274.75 |
| Approval of a changed risk-assessed management plan (RAMP) | $72.10 |
| Application for a search of the register | $30.70 |
| Approval for the gratuitous supply of liquor for a particular event or occasion in any part of licensed premises | $55.15 |
| Application for approval as a trainer for the licensee’s course for 1 year | $2,050.65 |
| Application for renewal of approval as a trainer for the licensee’s course for 1 year | $1,679.35 |
| Application for approval as a trainer for the approved training course | $350.20 |
| Application for renewal of approval as a trainer for the approved training course | $350.20 |
| An application other than in relation to the tribunal, not previously mentioned in schedule 1 | $84.85 |
| Annual Licence Fees | |
| Fee Description | Fee |
| Base fee for Commercial Hotel licence | $2,953.50 |
| Base fee for each detached bottle shop | $3,281.30 |
| Base fee for Commercial Special Facility Licence | |
| If Licensee is not authorised to sell or supply liquor at any time between 5am and 10am | $8,203.85 |
| for each additional liquor outlet beyond 10 liquor outlets | $1,093.75 |
| If Licensee is authorised to sell or supply liquor at any time between 5am and 10am | $10,937.85 |
| for each additional liquor outlet beyond 10 liquor outlets | $1,093.75 |
| Base fee for Commercial Other licence | $547.35 |
| Base fee for Community Club licence | |
| Club with 2000 members or less | $547.35 |
| Club with more than 2000 members | $2,406.05 |
| Base fee for Community Other licence | $273.65 |
| Risk Criterion – Extended Trading Hours | |
| Approved extended trading hours for the licensed premises between 7am and 9am | |
| During Weekends only | $820.00 |
| Otherwise | $1,093.75 |
| Approved extended trading hours for the licensed premises between 9am and 10am | |
| During Weekends only | $410.55 |
| Otherwise | $547.35 |
| Approved extended trading hours for the licensed premises between 12am and 3am | |
| During Weekends only | $6,152.10 |
| Otherwise | $8,203.85 |
| Approved extended trading hours for the licensed premises between 3am and 5am | |
| During Weekends only | $8,203.85 |
| Otherwise | $10,937.85 |
| Risk Criterion – Provision of Meals | $1,093.75 |
| Risk Criterion – Compliance History | |
| An infringement notice was served on the licensee and the licensee paid the fine in the previous licence period | $5,304.50 |
| The Chief Executive decides to take disciplinary action relating to the licence, and in the previous licence period | |
| The licensee did not appeal against the decision or the tribunal confirmed or set aside the decision or substituted another decision | $10,609.00 |
| The licensee was convicted of a supply office, and in the previous licence period, the offence was taken to have contributed to the death of a person or a serious assault committed against a person on or near the licensed premises | $21,218.00 |
| Wine Fees | |
| Licence/Permit Type/Other | Application Fee |
| Application for Wine Producer Licence | $472.10 |
| Application for Wine Merchant Licence | $2,022.00 |
| Annual fee for Wine Producer Licence or Wine Merchant Licence | $472.10 |
| Application for transfer of licence | $242.90 |
| Application for nominee for existing licence or additional or replacement nominee | $242.90 |
| Application for a condition – satellite cellar door (Wine Producers only) | $242.90 |
| Application to allow consumption of wine on the premises for wine merchant licence | $144.25 |
| Application for extended trading hours | $33.90 |
| Application for interim licence | $94.35 |
| Inspection of register | $26.50 |
Free Training Register
Download a free licensee training register to use in your business. The document is designed to be printed in A3 format.
You must keep a record of all employee’s training and this record must be produced if requested by OLGR. A copy of the relevant training certificates must be kept with the register.
If you’re unsure of anything regarding training requirements, call our office on 07 3252 4066.
Merry Christmas 2011
Our office will close at 5 pm on 23 December and will reopen at 8.30 am on 3 January.
Merry Christmas to all our clients and friends. We hope you enjoy this short video.
Christmas Trading Hours in Queensland 2012
Christmas is only weeks away and we expect to receive a number of enquiries asking us what the permitted trading hours are over the Christmas and New Year break. We have outlined the relevant restrictions below.
Christmas Eve
At Midnight on Christmas Eve premises must stop serving alcohol. The 30 minute grace period applies but all patrons must be off the premises by 12.30am on Christmas Day.
This now applies to all licensed premises in Queensland. (The exemption for On Premises (Cabaret) licences was revoked on 1 January 2009.)
On-Premises Sales Christmas Day
The sale of liquor on Christmas day is only permitted under certain circumstances.
With a meal – liquor may be supplied to a person who is eating a meal, in a place ordinarily set aside for dining. Liquor may be supplied under for one hour before the meal, during the meal and for one hour after the meal.
To in-house guests – liquor may be supplied to in-house guests of hotels, for consumption in the guest’s room or unit only, throughout Christmas Day.
Takeaway Sales on Christmas Day
Takeaway sales are not permitted on Christmas Day, all bottleshops must be closed.
Adult Entertainment on Christmas Day
Adult entertainment is not permitted on Christmas Day.
Boxing Day Trading
Normal trading resumes on Boxing Day. If you have approved extended trading you may reopen at 12.01am on Boxing Day.
New Year’s Eve Trading
All licensees are permitted to trade until 2am on New Years day, regardless of regular approved trading hours. The 30 minute grace period applies, meaning all patrons must be off the premises by 2.30am.
A licensee wishing to trade past 2am, and who does not have approved extended trading hours to do so, may apply for a one-off approval. This application must be made at least 21 days in advance; in other words before 10 December 2011.
Lockout Provisions on New Year’s Eve
For premises approved to trade past 3am, the lockout does not apply on the morning of New Year’s day.
Trading Hours on Good Friday & ANZAC Day
The Office of Liquor & Gaming Regulation has announced that compliance officers and police will be monitoring trading on Good Friday and Anzac Day to enusre compliance with restrictions on all licensed premises on these days.
Good Friday – 2 April 2010
Trading hours and conditions for all licensed premises in Queensland are set out below.
Thursday Night (Good Friday Eve): all premises must cease service at 12 midnight. The 30 minute grace period for consumption of drinks on the premises still applies.
Good Friday up to Midnight: if you do not normally serve meals on the premises, you will be able to enjoy a day off.
Premises offering a meals service may open at the usual time on Good Friday, but liquor may only be sold in association with a meal prepared on the premises and served in a part of the premises ordinarily set aside for dining.
Midnight on Good Friday onwards: normal trading resumes. Premises with extended trading hours approval may open at midnight and trade under their normal conditions until the approved closing time.
Normal trading hours and conditions apply for the remainder of the Easter period.
ANZAC Day – 25 April 2010
All licensed premises must cease service at 12 midnight on 24 April, with the usual 30 minute grace period.
Up to 1 pm on ANZAC day liquor may be sold in association with a meal, prepared on the premises and served in a part of the premises ordinarily set aside for dining. No takeaway liquor may be sold before 1 pm on ANZAC day.
RSL clubs and licensed premises catering for ANZAC day services or RSL functions can commence trading from 5 am on ANZAC day, subject to certain conditions. Please see the OLGR Factsheet for full details.
Advertising Restrictions for Gaming Licensees
Amendments to the Gaming Machine Act 1991 introduce penalties for licensees who advertise directly to a person who has asked to be excluded from licensed premises.
‘261L Distributing promotional or advertising material about licensed premises
‘A licensee must not distribute promotional or advertising
material about the licensee’s licensed premises to a person
who the licensee knows or ought reasonably to know is
prohibited from entering or remaining in the licensed
premises, or a gaming machine area on the licensed premises,
under a self-exclusion order or exclusion direction.
Maximum penalty—40 penalty units.’
The Minister for Tourism and Fair Trading, Peter Lawlor, today released a media statement reminding licensees of their obligations to comply.
Training Courses May 2011 – RMLV, RSA
Regatta Hotel, Toowong
Parking is available at the hotel and in Land Street.
4 & 5 May 2011
RMLV – Responsible Management of Licensed Venues – 9.30am – 3.30pm each day.
18 & 19 May 2011
RMLV – Responsible Management of Licensed Venues – 9.30am – 3.30pm each day.
Extended Trading Hours Moratorium
The moratorium which has stalled or blocked applications for extended trading hours for the last year or so has been extended for a further three years – ostensibly as part of the Government’s response to the Law Justice and Safety Committee’s report on alcohol related violence. This is despite the existence of strong legislation around trading hours, and the support on appeal for the use of that legislative power to refuse applications for extended trading, and to reduce trading hours through disciplinary action.
One wonders how stifling competition by placing further obstacles in the path of new market entrants can be deemed necessary to achieve a balanced outcome. So what’s really going on?
In a chain of causation sense, an overly simplistic and unfair licence fee regime is largely to blame for the moratorium. With the introduction of licence fees on 1 January 2009, licensees with approval to trade until 1.00am, 2.00am or 3.00am all pay the same licence fee uplift of close to $8000 per annum. This prompted many licensees (including some 80 plus ALH hotels) to apply to extend hours in line with the fee structure.
This in turn prompted objections from members of the public and local authorities seeking to have the applications refused. But, rather than simply grant those applications with sufficient merit and refuse those without, the Government put in place a state-wide, legislative, retrospective moratorium to block the consideration of existing applications and the lodging of further applications.
The only concession to would-be new late traders was to allow applications from premises within certain identified precincts. However, the recognition of precincts like Caxton Street and Fortitude Valley is of no comfort to many applicants. Areas such as West End and Park Road have been ignored, as has Airlie Beach and other notable areas which feature concentrations of hospitality venues.
So in addition to applying the brakes to the ALH value-for-licence-fee strategy, the moratorium blocks:
- an application for a licence for a new venue in Airlie Beach which will only be viable if it can operate on the same terms as other businesses in the locality.
- an application for a new business in Park Road which needs 2.00am trading to attract its market.
- an application for a function-based business in West End which needs 1.00am trading to satisfy its intended clients.
Most applications have ample justification, and after an exhaustive process would ordinarily receive favourable consideration. This is because the operation of most businesses during extended hours trading periods have little or no negative impact on the community. The small number of inappropriate proposals should simply be refused.
Instead of the moratorium, what is needed is courage.
- Courage to either grant or refuse the ALH applications according to their individual merit.
- Courage to take a more sophisticated approach to solving problems, such as lifting the ban on applications which relate to trading hours until say 2.00am.
- Courage to engage and negotiate with affected parties to reach agreed outcomes on issues like trading hours, rather than running and hiding.
- Courage to overhaul and improve the equity in the licence fee system which is, as always, the root of it all.
Canvas Club
One of the most interesting small bars to open in Brisbane since the bar licence was introduced is Canvas.
This vintage inspired cocktail bar is in the heart of the popular Woolloongabba Antique Precinct. Nestled amongst some of Brisbane’s best café’s, restaurants and antique centres, Canvas provides a mystical sanctuary where you can enjoy delectable cocktails, mixed by some of Australia’s top bartenders, boutique wine, craft beer, and rustic French/Spanish inspired food boards.
The interior of this intimate bar is quite different from anything else in Brisbane. Talented interior designer, Alexa Nice, brings a quirky blend of edgy and opulent design to the venue using recycled materials to bring as much of Brisbane into the bar as possible.
Recycled timber panels and planter boxes filled with flowers and ivy adorn the walls and most of the furniture was sourced from local second hand/vintage shops and auctions. A captivating ‘Where The Wild Things Are’ style mural on the feature wall and sketches throughout the menu were done by local Brisbane street artists.
Since opening in July, Canvas has been nominated for a number of awards and was recently named ‘Best Bar’ in the 2011 Courier Mail Food & Wine Guide. Pop into Canvas and enjoy live music on Sunday afternoon, Tapas and Tequila on Tuesday, or the Absinthe Green Hour on Thursday. Open from 3-midnight every day except Monday.
For more information and bookings:
Website: www.canvasclub.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/canvasbrisbane
Phone: (07) 3891 2111
Address: 16b Logan Road, Woolloongabba
Bar Licence Applications Made Easier
Since the introduction of the Bar Licence on 1st January 2010, only eleven of these licences have been issued in Queensland. Of these, only one is in Fortitude Valley; hardly the small bar revolution envisioned when this new licence category was announced.
The limited number of new bars has not been because of a lack of interest from the public, we have received several enquiries from people interested in opening a bar in Fortitude Valley and other areas, it is due to the classification of a bar as a “Hotel” under town planning schemes.
Until recently if you wanted to open a bar (or hotel) in Fortitude Valley, you were required to make a code or impact assessable town planning application – both long and costly exercises. This made it financially unviable to open a bar with a maximum capacity of 60 persons.
On 1st October 2010 the revised Fortitude Valley Neighbourhood Plan came into effect. Under the new plan the use of premises as a hotel is now self assessable where:
- the use does not involve building work (internal fitout does not constitute building work)
- the buildins is in the Special Entertainment Precinct Core Area
- the premises has 100m² or less in gross floor area (Other uses may occupy an area greater than 100m2, provided the licensed component is 100m² or less. This would apply to fusion bars attached to existing businesses such as shops, hairdressers etc.)
- the premises is not located within the same building as, or within 5m from, a residential dwelling.
This makes the prospect of opening a bar in Fortitude Valley much more attractive and we may now see some more vibrancy in our laneways and small spaces.
