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11 March 2019 by Matthew Jones

Easter and ANZAC Day Trading Hours 2019

Good Friday – 19 April 2019

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-square-brisbane-150

ANZAC Day – 25 April 2019

All licensed premises must cease liquor service at 12 midnight on 24 April, with the usual 30 minute grace period. Gaming must also cease at midnight.

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.

If your require a temporary extended hours permit for Anzac Day you must lodge the application at least 21 days in advance.

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, amendments to the Charitable and Non-Profit Gaming Act have legalised the playing of Two-up on ANZAC day in RSL clubs.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: compliance, Extended Hours, restaurant

1 May 2015 by David Grundy

New Laws to Impact Restaurants

Licensed restaurants have been the target of a number of OLGR initiatives over the years, and the most recent change, effective from 1 July 2015, will see the introduction of some of the toughest rules yet. Aimed at any restaurant trading as a bar, licensees will be required to comply with principal activity requirements for each trading day.

What does this mean for restaurant licensees?

Up until the mid-1990s a restaurant, or on premises meals, liquor licence restricted the supply of liquor to in association with a meal and some operators may remember ensuring patrons were intending to dine before serving a drink. However, since then the principal activity, or what used to be the primary purpose, provision of meals prepared, and served to be eaten, on the licensed premises has been used as an assessment of compliance. In effect, if a restaurant could demonstrate it was generally maintaining its principal activity, there was no limit on the amount of liquor that could be sold not in association with a meal.

The upcoming changes, part of the Safe Night Out Legislation Amendment Bill 2014, will tighten things up by requiring restaurant licensees to comply with principal activity requirements on the basis of each trading day. In other words, if a number of patrons attend for a drink and not a meal, there must have been enough dining patrons throughout that one day to ensure that most patrons consumed a meal on premises.

The concerns about these changes are obvious according to Liquor & Gaming Specialists Director Matthew Jones. Licensees will be expected to monitor the number of patrons consuming meals and the number not doing so. How will a busy restaurant owner, who sells numerous coffees and other beverages, ensure that these patrons do not outnumber, or even equate to, the number of patrons consuming meals?

Other changes, which will perhaps affect fewer restaurants, include the winding back of extended trading hours. From July 1, all existing and new restaurants will be limited to 1 am trading, regardless of any current approval. There are whispers that this reduction in available hours will include a reduction in the annual licence fee uplift, but this is yet to be confirmed.

For the more seriously impacted licensees, strategies to mitigate the effects include changing licence types: bar, caf and commercial hotel licences are the likely alternatives. For the rest, it looks like yet another compliance headache.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: amendments, compliance, principal activity, restaurant

4 July 2014 by Matthew Jones

Safe Night Out Amendments

The Queensland Parliament has now passed the Safe Night Out amendments, we have summarised the points of the bill below.

Amendments to the Criminal Code

  1. The introduction of the ‘coward punch’ offence.

The offence of ‘unlawful striking causing death’ is introduced by the Bill, carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and defined as a death caused by the striking to a person on their head or neck. The distinction between this new offence and the other homicide offences is that it expressly precludes the element of intention from its definition; meaning that defences such as provocation are unavailable. Further, the offence disenables the offender from relying on other commonly available defences such as the defence of accident or that of the prevention of recurrent insult.

  1. Introducing stricter penalties for various offences

The ‘unlawful striking causing death’ offence also obliges the Court to order that an offender is sentenced to serve the lesser of 80% of their prison sentence or 15 years imprisonment before being permitted for apply for parole.

The offence relating to the serious assault against public officers is proposed, under the Bill, to mirror that of the assault against police officers. This means that where certain behaviours are exhibited in the process of the assault, such as biting or spitting at the officer, the offender is liable to a maximum prison sentence of 14 years rather than the previous 7 years.

  1. Aggravation

The Bill introduces a new Chapter 35A to address the circumstances of aggravation in relation to particular offences. This amendment changes the way in which offender’s are able to claim the defence of mistake of fact in relation to intoxication, and introduces presumptive factors in relation to adverse affectation from intoxicating substances.

In addition to these changes to the Criminal Code, the Bill also alters the sentencing process for liquor-associated offences under the Penalties and Sentences Act. The major change is that the voluntary intoxication of an offender is proposed to be removed from the court’s consideration of mitigating factors in determining sentences. The Court is also required to order offenders to complete community service orders when convicted of certain offences committed when intoxicated and in a public place.

Amendments to the Liquor Act

  1. A new definition of “unduly intoxicated”.

The contextual nature of the previous definition has gone, however it may be arguable that the behaviour is the result of the context in which it occurs. Importantly, the objective assessment (the ordinary person reference) has been removed. What we now have is a new concept – “noticeably affected”. Does this mean that if you can tell someone has been drinking (or has taken drugs) from their speech, balance, coordination or behaviour that they are UNDULY intoxicated?  This would seem to be correct, which implies a worryingly low standard; the definition looks more like one for “intoxicated” rather than “unduly intoxicated”.

  1. Introduction of “irresponsible” consumption of liquor.

The previous idea of “rapid or excessive” consumption of liquor will be replaced with the “irresponsible” consumption of liquor. This change applies to those parts of the legislation that regulate promotional practices.

  1. Changes to RAMPs

New sections will allow the commissioner to require a licensee to amend its RAMP and provide the amended plan for approval. The commissioner can do this for single licences, classes of licences, or for all licensees within a safe night precinct or restricted area. The Bill also expands the guideline-making power to expressly refer to stipulating how a licensee should comply with their responsibilities under the Act; an example given being a guideline for how licensees should determining whether a person is unduly intoxicated.

  1. Changes to restaurants

The changes relating to restaurant licences are quite ground-breaking; seeking to control these premises more closely in relation to compliance with their principal activity of serving meals. This is achieved by a combination of requirements applicable “throughout each trading day”. These include that most of the patrons for the business for that day must consume a meal; most of the licensed area of the premise is set up for dining; the kitchen must be open and ‘being used…for meal preparation’ for at least up to one hour before the end of the trading period; and that there are sufficient staff engaged in the preparation and service of meals.

Some of these matters are presently enforced through licence conditions (the second and third points). The others are new. It’s hard to know how effective the requirements will be in terms of the concern which has been expressed about restaurants operating as bars. “Trading day” and “trading period” are defined without reference to licensed trading hours, so a restaurant which opens for breakfast could take advantage of this patronage to satisfy the requirement that most of the patrons on a trading day consume a meal.

For some time it has been unclear whether the assessment of compliance with principal activity requirements should refer to the totality of trading or to a shorter period. For example, if a restaurant operated as a bar on a Friday afternoon for several hours, but on an overall assessment was primarily a meals business, it was arguably compliant. The new requirements will clarify that compliance is now assessed on daily basis; thus ending the speculation.

Interestingly, the present standard conditions on meals licences about the majority of the premises being set up for dining, and meals being available until 1 hour before close are stated not to apply during a function. This appears to have been omitted.

Last but by no means least is the limitation on access to extended trading hours for restaurants. The new provisions will only allow extended hours through until 1am. Restaurants with later trading will retain these through until 1 July 2015, after which they will revert to 1am.

We assume this provision will also apply to premises in the prepared food category.

  1. Introduction of “Nightclub” licences

Although at present a nightclub business can be established under more than one licence category, the amendments will remove the “entertainment” principal activity category from the commercial other subsidiary on premises licence set, and place it into a category of its own – simply called a nightclub licence. The curious requirement in the present Act that the licence only authorises the sale of liquor to a person who is being entertained has been removed, and replaced with the same general requirement which applies to the other on-premises categories, that the licence only authorises liquor sales if the business complies with its principal activity, which presumably means that if entertainment is provided most of the time the licensee will be compliant.

A further requirement is that toilets must now be provided within the licensed premises; and these licences cannot be obtained for a vehicle.

Nightclub licensees will still be able to operate without entertainment prior to 5pm, but will be required to comply during that period with the new restaurant rules.

  1. Adult Entertainment Permits

An application will require the consent of the local council, although the council may abstain. There is no stated recourse in the Bill if the Council rejects the proposal, meaning that it is likely that merits of judicial review of the Council’s decision is the relevant remedial option for unsuccessful applicants.

  1. Extended Trading Hours

The moratorium will end as promised on 31 August. After that it appears that applications will be considered according to the same procedure and considerations as have applied in the past. One change is that if an approval is given despite an objection from Police, the Commissioner is obliged to publish reasons for the decision on the OLGR web site for a period of 3 months.

  1. Public Safety and Amenity

There are a series of new provisions in a new Division 1A in Part 5 under the heading “Public Safety and Amenity”. They articulate a range of matters which the Commissioner must consider when deciding applications, and also clarify the ability to impose wide-ranging conditions on licences and other approvals such as when liquor can be sold, the type or quantity of liquor, responsible practices about service, supply and promotion of liquor, noise abatement measures, conditions about the structure of the premises and security arrangements.

  1. Responsible Service, Supply and Promotion and Preservation of Amenity

A new Division (Division 1AA) is to be inserted in Part 6. It seems to merely collect and expand upon a number of elements of the existing legislation rather than creating new obligations. For example, a licensee is presently under an obligation to maintain a safe environment in and around the licensed premises, as stated in Section 148A(4). Under the amendments the obligation will be stated in a Section 142ZZB and will be expanded to include a requirement that the licensee “take all reasonable steps to ensure the use of the premises does not adversely affect the amenity of the area”.

The new Division also includes expanded provisions about unacceptable practices and promotions, and the restrictions on advertising. It includes provisions allowing the Commissioner to issue “compliance notices” to licensees directing that, for example, a particular advertising practice cease. There are offence provisions for failing to comply with the notice.

  1. Mandatory ID Scanning

As expected, there are detailed provisions setting up the mandatory ID scanning system. All premises that trade after midnight in a safe night out precinct will be subject to the requirements. Other licences can be conditioned to require scanning, and would be thereafter subject to these provisions.

The requirement will be that a person must not be admitted to the premises unless their ID is scanned during the “regulated hours”, which are either the hours specified on a licence, or otherwise from 8pm through till close.

The scanning system, software, and database management system used by the licensee are all subject to detailed approval and licensing requirements, and there are extensive privacy provisions.

Banning notice information must be included in the database, and the scanning will detect a banned person, who must not be allowed entry to the premises.

The new provisions contemplate a licensee banning a person from their premises, and then sharing the ID information about the banned person with licensees linked by an ID scanning system.

  1. Safe Night Precincts

Safe Night Precincts replace the trialled Drink Safe Precincts, and will be expanded to numerous precincts around the State. Each precinct may be overseen by an incorporated association referred to as a “local board”. Licensees within the relevant precinct must become members of the local board.

The new provisions will also allow for the creation of a public safety consultative committee to advise the local board. The Commissioner will appoint the members of the consultative committee, which can include Police, Local Government, Department, Transport and Community group representatives, very much along the lines of the existing DSP committees.

The local board will have the power to terminate the membership of a particular licensee, and the provisions create a procedure for this to occur. It’s unclear what the effect of the membership being terminated is on the licensee moving forward.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: CCTV, DSP, Extended Hours, ID scanners, lockout, restaurant, RSA, safe night out, undue intoxication

21 April 2014 by Diarmuid Deans

Minors On Licensed Premises – Compliance Issues

Section 155 of the Liquor Act has been around in its current form for ages.  It creates the offence of allowing an underage person on licensed premises, which carries significant maximum penalties – 100 penalty units ($130.55 per unit = $13,055 for individuals, multiplied by 5 for companies).  It is also one of the offences which attracts on-the-spot fines.  We had a client cop one of these recently when a couple of minors managed to sneak into his detached bottleshop while staff were distracted – $1100 (2014 penalty).

The way the section works is that it first states the offence, then creates a series of exemptions to it.  Most people are aware, for example, that if a minor is accompanied by a responsible adult, then that’s OK. Well, mostly OK, the exemption isn’t available after 5pm in a nightclub. Other exemptions cover minors working at the premises or doing work experience, minors residing on the premises and minors eating a meal. The whole section is extracted below this article.

So what’s changed?  Over the last couple of weeks we have have received a number of calls from clients who have been visited by OLGR compliance officers who have been ‘reminding’ them that if a minor comes into the premises to purchase takeaway food, or to have a coffee or milkshake, then that’s a breach of section 155 unless the licensee has made application for and received a specific approval from OLGR. In recent years we have all seen the emergence and growth of our cafe culture, and young people enjoying a skinny cap or triple shot soy latte etc. However, more and more of these venues have become licensed and when the year 11 or 12 student pops in for their morning fix before school the licensee, inadvertently, has a problem.

The other common scenario is take away food.  Many licensees don’t realise that if Mum sends her 15 year old in to pick up the food, the licensee commits an offence by allowing the minor on the premises.

Fortunately, there’s a solution.  The list of exemptions in section 155 includes paragraph (e) which is in the following terms:

the minor is on the premises for a purpose, and in circumstances, approved by the commissioner or stated in a condition of the licence or permit;

Although for some time now OLGR officers have not been focussing on this area, that’s clearly changed, and we are presently arranging this exemption for a number of clients.  The cost is minimal, so if your customers include young people and you neither wish to exclude them nor risk a fine you should call us for assistance.


Relevant section from the Liquor Act 1992

155 Minors on premises

(1) This section applies to all minors other than an exempt minor.

(2) A licensee, permittee or person in control of the premises to which the licence or permit relates must ensure that a minor is not on the premises.

(3) Also, an employee or agent of the licensee or permittee must not allow a minor to enter the premises to which the licence or permit relates.

(3A) If a minor is on the premises, each of the following persons commits an offence—

(a) the licensee or permittee;

(b) if another person is in control of the premises—the other person;

(c) if an employee or agent of the licensee or permittee allowed the minor to enter the premises—the employee or agent.

Maximum penalty—100 penalty units.

(4) In this section—

exempt minor means a minor on premises to which a licence or permit relates if—

(a) the minor is a resident on the premises; or

(b) the minor is on the premises to—

(i) perform duties as an employee of the owner, or occupier, of the premises or a part of the premises; or

(ii) perform duties in the conduct of a lawful business; or

(iii) perform duties while receiving training for employment or work experience; or

(c) the minor is attending a function being held on the premises; or

(d) the premises are premises to which a community club licence, community other licence, craft beer producer permit or restricted liquor permit relates and the minor’s presence does not contravene the club’s rules or a condition of the licence or permit; or

(e) the minor is on the premises for a purpose, and in circumstances, approved by the commissioner or stated in a condition of the licence or permit; or

(f) the minor—

(i) is eating a meal on the premises; or

(ii) is accompanied by a responsible adult who is responsibly supervising the minor.

(5) However, a minor is not an exempt minor merely because the minor is eating a meal on the premises or accompanied by a responsible adult if—

(a) the minor is on premises after 5p.m.; and

(b) the licence for the premises is a nightclub licence.

This article was updated on 8 November 2018 to reflect the current value of the penalty unit and a change to the rules regarding nightclub licences.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: compliance, minors, restaurant

11 April 2014 by David Grundy

How to Obtain a Liquor Licence for a New Building

liquor licence sign on fenc

Much has been said recently about Brisbane being regarding by Lonely Planet as “arguably Australia’s hippest city”, an “energetic river town on the way up, with an edgy arts scene, pumping nightlife and great coffee and restaurants”. My 4 year old pointed out to me just the other day the number of cranes in and around the CBD. I tell him that’s Cranky the Crane, Kevin the Crane and Collin the Crane; then I run out of names from the Island of Sodor to label the many others. But, there are clearly plenty of developers attracted to Brisbane at the moment and, with them, the hospitality businesses wanting to have a go.

Mixed use multi-level developments create a broad range of licensing possibilities. Typically, the developer will finish construction of the building and then seek tenants for the ground level shops. The tenant usually has to apply for their own liquor licence to suit their business such as restaurant, cafe or small bar.

However, what many don’t realise is that it is possible for the landowner to obtain liquor licences for each tenancy off the plan, without a sod being turned. For example, a proposed development might contain four tenancies on its ground floor level. The owner can obtain separate liquor licences for each of those proposed tenancies in her/his name and then transfer the licences to the respective tenants. This makes the tenancies more marketable, making it easier to secure restaurant, cafe and small bar operators as the process of transferring a liquor licence is much quicker and cheaper than applying for the licence from scratch. This means there is much less uncertainty for the tenant associated with obtaining a new licence in time for opening.

Another advantage with obtaining multiple licences at once is the economies achieved by use of the same information and material as much of it will be identical for each tenancy. This also makes it easier to pass on the cost of obtaining the liquor licence to the tenant. Not only do they benefit from being licensed sooner, they also get the licence for less money and with minimal input from them.

Over the years, we have found this to be a successful strategy for developers. Of course, there’s nothing so lonesome, morbid or drear, than to stand at a built bar ready to go with no beer. And, empty shops mean income is both slim and dusty for landlords. So securing licences early means a more attractive development and ultimately a win-win situation for owners and tenants.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: new licence, restaurant, town planning

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