Key features of the licence
- Available for those wishing to apply for a producer's liquor licence and your business model relates to a small-scale microbrewery/distillery.
- Lower application and annual fee and easy to access form.
You must have the appropriate development consent and operate in line with the conditions of consent. If you want to change your conditions, you may need to lodge or modify a development consent with your local council.
Key features of the authorisation
You may be eligible for a drink on-premises authorisation if:
- You hold (or are applying for) a producer/wholesaler licence or a microbreweries and small distilleries licence, and
- You want to sell your own beer, cider, or spirits for full consumption on-site, not just for tastings.
The microbreweries and small distilleries authorisation is:
- Available for small scale producers of beer, cider and spirits.
- Suitable for micro-breweries or small distilleries that want to sell their own products for consumption on their premises in full serves, not just tastings.
- Also allows wine produced elsewhere to be sold for consumption on-site. Conditions apply, including a patron limit of 120 and making sure food is available.
- Available with reduced application fees in consideration of the small-scale business model.
Read: Special licensing option for micro-breweries small distilleries fact sheet (PDF 121.02KB)
Costs
Use our Liquor Fee Schedule to calculate your fee.
Trading hours
Standard hours
Consumption on premises liquor trading hours:
- 5.00am to 12.00am from Monday to Sunday
Retail take-away sales of their licensee’s product can be made to the public during the following hours:
- 5.00am to 12.00am from Monday to Saturday
- 10.00am to 10.00pm on Sunday
Extended trading authorisation
Provided Council consent is in place, the venue’s consumption on premises liquor trading hours may only be extended to 2am.
(Please note: the liquor trading hours for take away sales cannot be extended)
The extended trading authorisation form (PDF 621.5KB) is available.
Training requirements
It is best practice to keep copies of your and your staff’s qualifications in a register on the premises.
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 premises.
The Liquor Regulation 2018 introduced an additional two compulsory courses for licensees and managers:
However, only licensees and managers of microbreweries and small distilleries liquor licences that also have a microbrewery drink on premises authorisation (DOPA) are required to complete a Licensee Training or Advanced Licensee training course.
How to apply
You must be 18 years or older and authorised to lodge this licence application.
Licence: To apply for the microbreweries and small distilleries liquor licence, complete the following application MAPP816 New producer and wholesaler licence Microbreweries and distilleries (PDF 578.65KB)
Authorisation: If you also wish to apply for the micro-breweries and small distilleries drink on premises authorisation, complete the authorisation application - Microbreweries and distilleries (AM0016) (PDF 335.74KB). This authorisation may also be applicable to existing producer/wholesaler licences.
You must have:
- the appropriate development consent and
- operate in line with the conditions of consent.
If you want to change your conditions, you will need to lodge a development application with your local council.
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.
If you already hold a producer/wholesaler licence or a microbreweries and small distilleries licence, you will need the below to apply for the authorisation:
- a plan (PDF 2MB) clearly showing the proposed boundaries for the licensed area and key features, including entry/exit points, bar areas, any adjoining streets and the direction North
- proposed liquor trading hours
- details of the venue and business owner
- contact details for you or a person authorised to submit your application
- a copy of the Site Notice prominently displayed at the proposed licenced premises until you hear the outcome of your application
- a copy of the Site Notice provided to the occupiers of any building or land within 50 metres of the proposed premises.
If you do not hold a producer/wholesaler licence you can apply for the authorisation when you apply for the producer/wholesaler licence.
Attach Conditions form
Please attach the following completed form to your online liquor licence application at lodgement.
Lodging this form with your liquor licence application will reduce the processing time.
This form 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 and/or its delegates 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, please indicate the relevant condition number, alternative condition text and/or additional condition as well as the reasons in the space provided below the conditions list. You can attach additional information on separate pages if required.
Once your application is lodged, you will receive a site notice. This notice must be affixed to the location of the proposed licensed premises and must be provided to the occupiers of surrounding buildings.
We will advertise your application on the Liquor and Gaming Application Noticeboard for 30 days, during which time, the community can comment on your application.
- We'll assess your application
- We'll notify you, and publish the outcome.
For details on this, and what happens if your application is approved or rejected, see What to expect at Apply for a liquor licence in NSW