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Regulatory Impact Statement - Liquor Control Reform Regulations

New regulations were proposed to replace the current Liquor Control Reform Regulations 1999, which are due to expire on 15 February 2010. The proposed regulations:

• set new application and risk-based annual licence renewal fees for liquor licences and BYO permits to recover the regulatory costs associated with administering the licensing system, compliance and enforcement activities
• amend some of the current requirements for the provision of particulars and information for liquor licence applications
• re-make the provisions prescribing substances as liquor
• re-make the provisions in relation to standards for security cameras on licensed premises with some minor amendments to improve the quality of CCTV images from licensed premises whilst minimising the regulatory burden on licensees
• re-make the provisions in relation to licensing polls, with some minor amendments to reflect changes in the conduct of polls by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

A Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS), setting out the need for the new regulations, and the options that have been considered, was released for public comment by the Department of Justice. The RIS has been independently assessed by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC). 

Public comment closed

The public was invited to comment on the RIS and the proposed regulations. Submissions closed at 5pm on Friday 18 September 2009.

Submissions

A total of 39 submissions were received in response to the RIS and they were carefully considered by the government prior to the making of the Liquor Control Reform Regulations 2009.

The Department of Justice has formally responded to each submission.

See Summary of submissions to Regulatory Impact Statement from the attachments at the bottom of this page for a summary of all issues raised in the submissions received and the responses by the Department of Justice to those issues.

As a result of the government's extensive community and industry consultations regarding the new risk-based liquor licence fees, specific elements of the fees have been refined as follows:

• The venue capacity multiplier will apply to licensed premises with more than 200 patrons, with the multiplier increasing by 0.25 for every additional 100 patrons up to 1300 patrons. The venue capacity multiplier will not be applied to the 11.01pm to 1am risk fee unless the licensee also had a history of one or more non-compliance events
• Areas within licensed premises that are used to provide accommodation and function areas will be excluded from the calculation of patron number capacity
• A separate fee structure for sexually explicit entertainment venues will be introduced. The fee for 2010 will be $30,000
• Eligible licensees with function areas will be able to apply to have patron numbers for functions areas excluded from the venue capacity multiplier where:
  • the function area closes at 1am or earlier (and this is a condition of the licence)
  • the function area is exclusively used for pre-booked functions and casual or public entry is not allowed; and
  • compliance history risk fees do not apply.

The Department of Justice will write to all licensees providing them with more information about the new regulations.

Download a copy of the RIS and the VCEC's assessment letter from the link below:

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Author:	Responsible Alcohol Victoria, Department of Justice
Place of Publication:	Melbourne, Victoria
Publisher:	Responsible Alcohol Victoria, Department of Justice
Date of Publication:	August 2009
Number of Pages:	Regulatory Impact Statement - 219 pages VCEC's Assessment Letter - 2 pages Summary of submissions to Regulatory Impact Statement - 10 pages
Copyright:	State of Victoria, 2009