Starting a business in New South Wales involves a lot of planning, and for businesses that include the service of alcohol, part of that planning is choosing the right liquor licence. In this article, we’ll continue where we left off on the quick rundown of liquor licenses available in NSW. This list is by no means technical and is intended to provide a general idea of where to start when applying for licences. For the technical details of liquor licence applications, please refer to the Department of Liquor & Gaming NSW.
Here are some of the other licences available for application for businesses and events.
Club Licence
A club licence allows for registered clubs to serve and sell alcohol to their members on and off the premises. For clubs with branches, each branch must be separately licensed. Examples of businesses that use this licence are bowling clubs and golf clubs.
Hotel Licence
The hotel licence allows for the sale of alcohol for consumption within the premises. It also allows for the sale of takeaway alcohol, and at function away from the premises (subject to separate approval). This type of licence permits the provision of entertainment along with alcohol, provided for those where the main business of the venue is the sale and supply of alcohol.
Types of businesses that fall under this licence are pubs, hotels with accommodation and large bars. While there is no patron limit given under the Liquor Act 2007, the local council of your business area may impose one at their discretion.
Hotel General Bar Licence
The general bar licence is a type of hotel licence, which has the primary purpose of licensing the sale of alcohol to the public for consumption within premises. This licence allows the operation of dining facilities, accommodation and public entertainment (with approval from the local council), as well as the sale of alcohol at a function away from premises.
This licence doesn’t permit the sale of takeaway alcohol or the operation of gaming machines, keno or wagering. Likewise, with the hotel licence, the local council of your business area may impose a patron limit at their discretion.
Small Bar Licence
A small bar licence is issued to bars operating without gaming machines, and which venue can hold a maximum of 100 patrons. Businesses with a small bar licence are not permitted to sell takeaway alcohol and must serve alcohol within the venue only. As per the Liquor Regulation 2018, an on-premises or hotel general bar licence can be converted to a small bar licence free of charge for up to 12 months beginning on September 1, 2018.
All of these licences are granted to businesses with servers or owners who have undergone the RSA Online NSW training courses, or the face-to-face equivalent. We hope that this article has helped you pick out the right licence you need for your business, as well as discern the pros and cons of each licence in practice.
To learn RSA Online NSW and be able to legally serve alcohol in venues across the state, enrol at CTA Training Specialists (Club Training Australia) today!