All licensees have to maintain an incident register

The obligation for all licensees to have and maintain an incident register is now an entrenched requirement.  Licensees should be vigilant and avoid allowing themselves and their staff to become complacent about the issue.  A failure to comply properly potentially attracts fines of up $10,000 under the Liquor Control Act.  Incident registers are commonly checked during inspections.

The following are the obligations associated with incident registers:

• Licensees must maintain a register of ‘prescribed incidents’ that take place at the licensed premises.  ‘Prescribed incidents’ are listed in the Liquor Control Regulations and may be amended from time to time.  Amendments have been made since the law was first introduced in 2006.

• The form of the incident register must be acceptable to the Director of Liquor Licensing.  Licensees are not at liberty to create their own system, method or form for recording incidents.  Only a form approved by the Director is permissible.  The Director’s current published approved form is attached.  Other styles of forms may potentially be approved by the Director upon application by the licensee.

• The incident register must be produced upon request by an authorised person for inspection.  If, for example, the incident register is locked in an office or otherwise inaccessible at the time of an inspection, this will amount to non-compliance and possibly attract a fine.   

Licensees should ensure that they and their staff are fully aware of the obligations associated with incident registers.  Staff refresher training on this issue is recommended.

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