If licence fees are not paid by 31 July, and the licensee has not entered into an approved instalment payment plan (see below), the licence for the premises will be automatically suspended for 28 days. If the fees are not paid by the end of the suspension period, the licence will be automatically cancelled. If your licence is suspended, you must cease trading in liquor or you risk a fine of more than $2,500.
Please note: because these dates fall on a weekend this year, OLGR will accept payments on the next business day – so the relevant dates are really 2 & 30 August 2021.
OLGR has sent licence fee notifications to all licensees by email and/or post. If you have not received a notification, please contact OLGR on 1300 072 322, or log into your client portal to assess and pay your fees.
Payment by Instalments
The Liquor Act provides an option to pay annual licence fees by instalments if the licensee is unable to pay in full by the due date because:
- the business has been affected by natural disaster; or
- the licensee has suffered personal or financial hardship.
It is fair to say that COVID-19 is a natural disaster which has affected the operation of licensed premises and many licensees have suffered financial hardship as a result. Although we have not received guidance from OLGR, we believe there is an opportunity to obtain an approval to pay your licence fees by instalments. To begin the process, please complete this form.
OLGR distributes a licence fee flyer indicating the option to pay by instalments is only available if licence fees exceed $1,000. We are unaware of a supporting provision in the legislation and licensees may make an application for any amount. However, as the Commissioner must be satisfied the licensee is ‘unable to pay the fee in full’, licensees may find this difficult to prove for smaller amounts.
Generally, if the application is approved the fees must be paid in equal quarterly instalments, with the first payment due immediately.
