We are often asked this question by people in relation to breaches or potential breaches, of the liquor laws, regulations, licence conditions or licensing authority policies.
Answer: It depends.
It will depend on what has been breached, the circumstances surrounding the breach, relevant background, historical breaches and various other factors. The licensing authority has broad powers to issue infringement notices, give warnings, impose fines, commence disciplinary proceedings, add restrictions, cancel licence privileges, suspend licences, ban licensees, managers and other people, cancel licences and more.
Any action taken by the licensing authority for a breach has the potential to be very costly, not just in terms of the monetary value of any fine or court costs, but also in terms of the cost to the business if the penalty affects trade. It may also limit the ability to persuade the licensing authority to approve changes to the licence or the premises into the future or to obtain approval to be involved in a licensed business.
Those who do the “catching” aren’t limited to licensing authority inspectors during a formal inspection. Police, local council officers, a tip-off to the authorities by a member of the public, a competitor licensee, or anyone else are all potential sources. Sometimes licensees innocently allow themselves to get caught, for example, by publishing an advertisement for a promotion that is unauthorised.
Licensees, managers and staff should be wary of the risks associated with non-compliance. So too should would-be applicants and those wanting to join the industry who breach liquor laws prior to being licensed because their prospects of being approved may be jeopardised by a historical incident associated with a breach.
Now is the time to plan licensing requirements for summer events.
Occasional licence, ETP or variation applications may need to be lodged to seek approval for some events.
Depending on the size and duration of the event, those applications may need to be made several weeks or even months prior to the event.
Recently the Federal Court of Australia found that “conduct by Meriton reduced the number of negative reviews of Meriton’s properties that were posted on the pages of the TripAdvisor website dedicated to those properties with the effect of improving the relative number of favourable reviews compared with unfavourable reviews of Meriton’s properties on the TripAdvisor website. This conduct created a more positive or favourable impression of the quality and amenity of Meriton’s serviced apartments, and had the effect of reducing, in the minds of consumers, awareness of the prevalence of service disruptions at Meriton’s properties”
Meriton had inserted the letters “MSA” in email addresses of guests who had complained or had a negative experience, before sending those addresses to TripAdvistor so that those email addresses were then invalid and the guests did not then receive an invitation to provide a review.
The Court ordered, amongst other things, that Meriton pay $3m within 30 days.
A copy of the decision can be accessed here.
The licensing authority has published a new policy regarding requirements associated with liquor services at events.
Essentially, the policy is intended to clarify and tighten regulation associated with bars that are not permanent or part of established bricks and mortar venues.
The policy says that “A temporary bar should be ancillary to the purpose of the event”, meaning that it should not be the main feature or purpose.
The policy was developed with some input from industry.
Some events seeking approval for a “temporary bar” will now be advertised and some will require a public interest assessment to support the application for licensing approval.
You can access the full policy here.
Is the number of prohibition orders issued by the licensing authority so far in 2018.
Licensees should be familiar with those who have been prohibited from their premises.
Access the licensing authority’s database here.
There are new food labelling laws which are relevant to many businesses in the liquor, hospitality, tourism and event industries. Are you compliant? Click here to access Lavan’s publication on the subject.
The Hospitality Messenger reported previously that, earlier this year the licensing authority started a trial of no longer requiring newspaper advertisements for applications. That practice has continued, saving applicants the cost and effort involved. However, the full 28 day period of advertising of such applications has remained and sometimes applications are available on the licensing authority’s website for longer than 28 days.
The licensing authority also now advertises some event applications on its website, but in a separate section labelled “Temporary Event Approvals” which can be accessed here.
Nobody has an actual right to a liquor licence.
The liquor laws do not provide anyone with a right to hold a liquor licence and nor do the liquor laws provide a holder of a licence with a free right to trade once a licence has been issued.
Rather, it is a privilege to be granted a licence and to be permitted to trade, as approved by the licensing authority and subject to licensing authority conditions and discretion.
Being a member of your local liquor accord can potentially be very useful to your business, in various ways. For some licensees, it is a condition of the licence to be a member and attend meetings.
