Hotel - liquor licence

Application fee

Use our Liquor Fee Schedule to calculate your fee including:

• an application fee
• a non-refundable processing fee.

Licence fees

Pro-rata annual liquor licence fee

• A hotel licence is subject to a pro-rata annual liquor licence fee depending on the time of year your liquor licence is granted.
• The fee is calculated on a quarterly basis and reflects the amount of time you use the licence before the next billing cycle (on 15 March the following year). Calculate your pro-rata fee.

Annual liquor licence fee

A hotel licence is subject to an annual liquor licence fee, due in May each year. Read more about annual liquor licence fees.

The Liquor Act and Regulations have certain requirements for hotels, including:

• your premises must be open to the public and not run as a private club
• free drinking water must be available to patrons whenever alcohol is served
• food must be available whenever alcohol is served on the premises
• a sign must be displayed at the front of the premises that shows:
  • the name of the premises
  • the type of liquor licence held and that the premises holds a hotel licence
  • the name of the licensee
• under 18s are permitted only in those areas of the premises where a minors area authorisation has been approved by the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA)
• an incident register must be maintained where the premises regularly trades past 12:00am
• conditions can be imposed on the licence, either under the liquor laws or by ILGA.

​The law requires that all types of licensed venues display liquor signs. This includes a number of compulsory signs, depending on which licence and authorisations you have.

• Find out what signs you need

You can sell alcohol at any time during the standard trading period - as shown in the table below.

On New Year’s Eve, you can sell alcohol until 2am the next day, or until a later time under an extended trading authorisation (PDF 641.25KB).

You can apply for extended trading hours as part of your hotel licence application.

• Additional fees would apply – see the Liquor Fee Schedule
• In this instance, the Statement of Risks and Potential Effects (SoRPE) would need to address any risk of harm relating to your proposed extended trading hours and the operation of gaming machines during these times.

When a hotel that schedules live music or arts and cultural events applies for an extended trading authorisation, the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority must give due weight to the strong positive social impact associated with hosting these events.

Certain criteria will apply, including live music or arts and cultural events being part of the venue’s regular business activities, the venue being required to hold 2 events on different days in a 7-day period, and scheduling the performances after 8pm for 45 minutes or more. Gaming machines cannot be operated during the extended trading period.

Note that the proposed extended trading hours must be permitted under the licensed premises development consent.

The table outlines standard and extended trading hours for a hotel licence.

* These hours are subject to the 6-hour closure period

A 6-hour closure period applies to all liquor licences, including those with extended trading hours. It usually starts at 4.00am and ends at 10.00am each day.

You can apply to change the 6-hour closure period:

• temporarily
• permanently
• to different times on different days of the week.

In your application, you need to provide detail on:

• the current and proposed hours of closure, and why the closing period should be changed
• the demonstrated or likely needs of patrons
• the interests of the local community
• the opinion of local police on the proposal, if any
• ways you will minimise harm associated with misuse and abuse of alcohol - including harm arising from violence and other anti-social behaviour
• ways you will promote, sell and supply alcohol safely and responsibly
• ways the proposal will not detract from the amenity of community life.

Also see

See Licence conditions approved by the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority. The page contains a list of conditions which the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority and/or its delegates may impose if the licence is granted.

The Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority may impose additional or alternative conditions if warranted. However, the party seeking additional or alternative conditions must demonstrate the need for those conditions.

If you would like to seek alternate conditions, and/or additional conditions, you can provide, alternative condition text and/or additional condition as well as the reasons with your application. You can attach additional information on separate pages if required.

You can tailor your licence to meet your needs by applying for authorisations and exemptions.

• Liquor Fee Schedule outlines any related costs

The licensee and all staff involved in selling, serving or supplying alcohol need to have completed an approved Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) course and hold a valid NSW competency card.

This requirement also applies to security staff and promotional staff conducting tastings on the premises.

The Liquor Regulation 2018 introduced an additional two compulsory courses for licensees and managers:

1. Licensee training
2. Advanced licensee training

Your application can take longer to review if we don’t have all the details we need to assess it. We will come back to you to obtain the missing information to progress your application. You can help us speed up the process by:

• Providing all the correct information at the time you apply.
• Responding to our request for missing information as soon as possible after we contact you.

Statement of Risks and Potential Effects

Before you apply for a hotel liquor licence, you must prepare a Statement of Risks and Potential Effects (SoRPE).

What else you need to apply

• a floor plan (PDF 2MB) clearly showing the proposed boundaries for the licensed area
• a copy of your local council development approval or consent
• requested liquor trading hours
• details of the venue owner
• contact details for you or a person authorised to submit your application
• if applicable, a completed applicant declaration (TDEC5) (PDF 237.41KB)
• payment for your application
• a liquor plan of management (PDF 162.77KB).

If applying as an individual you'll also need:

• evidence of your Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) qualifications, including your Licensee training and Advanced licensee training qualifications, if appropriate
• evidence of your Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG) qualifications (if applicable)
• a current National Police Certificate issued within the last three months
• the three identity documents you used when applying for the National Police Certificate.

If applying as an organisation you'll also need:

• ABN or ACN
• the names and birthdates of all directors and officeholders (if it is a proprietary company)
• a current Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) extract
• if applicable, inclusion of the appointment of manager notice (PDF 636.18KB). 

Once your application is lodged, you will receive a site notice. This notice must be affixed to the location of the proposed licensed premises until the application is granted.

Council, police and agency stakeholders will be automatically notified of your application.

You must:

• Affix the site notice to the front of the premises and ensure it is visible to the public. This site notice must remain in place until your application has been determined.
• Notify neighbouring premises with a 100-metre radius of your venue.
• Notify the recognised leaders or representatives of the local aboriginal community, and aboriginal health and social services in the local government area.
• If trading after 12:00am (extended trading authorisation) you must notify any organisation in the LGA that receives funding from the Responsible Gambling Fund.

A paper form version of the site notices can be downloaded if you wish to complete them manually at your convenience prior to lodgement of your application.

APP400 hotel liquor application site notice (PDF 214.1KB)

We will advertise your application on the Liquor and Gaming Application Noticeboard for 30 days. The community can comment on your application, as well as people who were consulted as part of the SoRPE process, if applicable.

• We'll assess your application
• We'll notify you, and publish the outcome.

For details on this, and what else happens if your application is approved or rejected, see What to expect at Apply for a liquor licence in NSW