To help you navigate the minefield that is Section 148B we have drawn up a decision making tool for you to use. Please bear in mind that this is a general tool only and may not take into account all the factors associated with your planned advertisement or promotion. If you require specific advice, please call our office on 07 3252 4066.

Feel free to distribute this tool to friends and associates if you think it is useful.

Download the Free Liquor Advertising Decision Making Tool

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 2012

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.

Two-up Legal on ANZAC Day

Although in the past games of Two-up have been openly conducted in RSL clubs on ANZAC Day, with the implicit cooperation of police, the games were technically illegal. However, a recent amendment to the Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act has legalised the playing of Two-up on ANZAC day in RSL clubs.

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.

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 to all our clients and friends. We hope you enjoy this short video.

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.

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.

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.

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