In Short
- Selling alcohol online in Australia requires a packaged liquor licence, which is regulated by state and territory laws.
- The application process involves meeting specific requirements, such as responsible service of alcohol provisions.
- Compliance with these regulations is essential to legally operate and avoid potential fines or legal action.
Tips for Businesses
If you plan to sell alcohol through your website, ensure you obtain the necessary packaged liquor licence and comply with each state’s regulations. Familiarise yourself with the responsible service of alcohol requirements and integrate these into your operations to maintain compliance and avoid legal issues.
Table of Contents
If you intend to sell alcohol through a home delivery service, via mail order or online, you must hold a valid liquor licence. The specific licence you require depends on the state where your business is based, where you are distributing and storing the alcohol, and where payment occurs. If you store and distribute alcohol from multiple centres around different states of Australia, you may require more than one licence.
This article explains applying for a packaged liquor licence in New South Wales.
What is a Packaged Liquor Licence in NSW?
Under a packaged liquor licence, a licensee may be authorised to:
- sell liquor by retail in sealed containers on the licensed premises for consumption away from the licensed premises;
- sell liquor wholesale to persons authorised to sell liquor;
- supply liquor, at any time on the licensed premises, to the employees of the licensee; or
- supply liquor that is not in a sealed container on the licensed premises during trading hours for tasting purposes.
The sale might be from a bottle shop, delivery, mail order, or online through an e-commerce facility.
Disqualifying Businesses
Some types of businesses cannot hold a packaged liquor licence. These include:
- service stations;
- takeaway shops;
- storage units or self-storage facilities; and
- general stores.
A general store includes a convenience store, mixed business or a milk bar with a retail area of more than 240 square metres whose primary business function is the sale of groceries. However, you may apply for a packaged liquor licence in a general store in certain circumstances, including if there is no other takeaway liquor service available to the public in the neighbourhood.
Continue reading this article below the formTrading Hours
Under a packaged liquor licence, businesses can usually only sell alcohol between 10 am and 12 am, Monday to Saturday, and 10am to 10pm on Sunday. In addition, your business must not sell alcohol on Good Friday or Christmas Day. It is possible to seek an extension of the trading hours as a part of the application. However, you must pay an additional fee to extend your trading hours.
Daily Six Hour Closure
A daily six-hour closure period applies to all packaged liquor licences granted from 30 October 2008 onwards. The usual closure time is 4 am to 10am. Just like with the trading hours, you can seek an amendment to the standard six-hour closure time. However, to do so, you must outline the following:
- why you are seeking the amendment;
- the current and proposed mode of operation;
- the likely impact the change will have on the business patrons and the local community;
- the opinion of the local police;
- how the proposed closure period will minimise the harm associated with misuse and abuse of alcohol;
- how the proposed closure period will encourage responsible attitudes and practices towards the promotion, sale, supply, service and consumption of alcohol; and
- whether the proposed closure period will detract from the amenity of community life.
Liquor Sales Area
A bottle shop can only operate in an adequately separated area of the licensed premises. Therefore, besides selling packaged liquor, you cannot conduct other activities in the designated liquor sales area.
Application
The application should include the following:
- application form;
- Statement of Risks and Potential Effects (SoRPE)
- prescribed application fee; and
- associated documents as set out in the application form.
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Statement of Risks and Potential Effects (SoRPE)
From 1 July 2024, you must provide an SoRPE when you lodge the application with Liquor and Gaming NSW. In your SoRPE you must include:
- a description of the local community, including nearby points of interest and other licenced premises;
- advice about your proposed controls or mitigation strategies to address any risk of harm caused by the licenced premises;
- proposed positive impacts or benefits for the local community; and
- results of any discussions between you and the local community about issues and concerns.
Licenced Premises
As part of your application, you will include a floorplan of the premises you wish to use for your online packaged liquor licence.
The proposed premises should be the place where you plan to run the business, including where sales orders are processed online or by phone. The location where you intend to store the liquor, such as a storage facility, does not need to be licenced.
Common types of licenced premises for this type of licence include:
- business suite (within a commercial office);
- warehouse venue/industrial unit; and
- home business.
Development approval from council is required if the premises is a business suite or a warehouse venue/industrial unit. It is not required for a home business, provided that the venue is the residential address of the proposed approved manager or individual business owner, or it is the registered address of the organisation licensee/business owner.
Additional Documents Required
The additional documents provided in support of your application may include floorplans of the premises, development consents or approvals, a national police certificate, Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification, and any other relevant information.
You must submit the application package online to Liquor and Gaming NSW. Once you’ve lodged a licence application, it will be advertised on the Liquor and Gaming Application Noticeboard for 30 days. This allows stakeholders such as the community, local council, NSW Police and NSW Health an opportunity to comment.
Notices
Once you lodge your application, you will be given a public site notice which needs to be displayed at the front of the premises, until a decision is made about your application.
Ongoing Obligations
Upon receiving your liquor licence, you will have ongoing obligations such as renewing it or updating the licence if there are any changes to your business operations. It is also important to note that the licence is attached to the premises, not the business. Therefore, you must apply to move or transfer your packaged liquor licence if you move your business.
Key Takeaways
In summary, you need a packaged liquor licence to sell alcohol through a home delivery service. This licence authorises you to sell and supply liquor. However, some businesses, such as takeaway shops, are ineligible for this licence. Furthermore, you must be aware of restrictions such as the daily six-hour closure and the liquor sales area.
If you need help selling liquor online or obtaining a liquor licence, our experienced liquor licence lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most businesses will be eligible for a packaged liquor licence, except for service stations, takeaway shops and general stores.
As a licensee, you can usually only sell alcohol between the hours of 5 am to 12 am. However, you can seek an extension to your trading hours as part of the application. Most licensees must also be closed for at least six hours a day.
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