Advice for completing a liquor licence application

Liquor Control Victoria is experiencing a high volume of licensing applications, resulting in extended processing times.

In some instances, you can plan ahead to reduce delays and provide certainty in your future.

When to apply

Depending on your particular circumstances, the following options may assist you:

• Submit your application for a new licence or changes to an existing licence without an approved planning permit. A copy of your planning permit application to local council is sufficient. If we decide to grant your application, the new licence and/or changes will only take effect once you receive local council’s permission and provide confirmation to us using the notice of right to use the premises form.

• Submit your application to change your licence before your premises’ renovation or proposed building works is complete. If we decide to grant your application, the change to your licence will only take effect when the building works is complete and you have notified us.

• Submit transfer applications before officially taking over a premises. You do not require a lease or property settlement before submitting your application. If we decide to grant your transfer, you can commence trading immediately after you have the legal right to occupy the premises; you must provide us with a notice of the right to occupy within 24 hours of gaining that legal right.

• If you are booked into your RSA or New Entrant Training course, you can submit your application to us before you have completed the course. Please provide evidence of your course booking for example an email confirmation when lodging your application. If you are unsure who must complete the training courses, please see our training fact sheet.

How to get your application right, first time

There are some things you as the applicant can do to make sure your application is of the highest quality:

• Make sure you answer every question on the application form, as all our questions require an answer. Specifically with the questionnaire, answer every question and tick all 11 boxes.

• If you are applying as a company, you must provide a Current and Historical Company extract of your company. It must be less than 90 days old and can be purchased directly from ASIC.

• Ensure questionnaires are provided for all required people involved in the application. This is all partners, directors and the nominee (if applicable). Please find some examples below:
  • Body Corporate (e.g. Company or Incorporated Club) example:
    • Company ABC Pty Ltd has two directors Jane and John.
    • Each director must complete their own questionnaire.
    • If a Nominee is sought, that Nominee will also need to complete a questionnaire.
  • Natural Person example:
    • Jane is a natural person licensee, only Jane must complete a questionnaire.
  • Partnership example:
    • Jane and John are in partnership together, Jane and John must complete a questionnaire each.

• Some licence categories also need a patron capacity document. Usually, this information would be in your planning permit. However, if your planning document does not contain your patron capacity, you will be required to provide a building surveyor report or occupancy permit to evidence the capacity of your premises. Please see our maximum patron capacity fact sheet for further information.

• The declaration of associates form must be completed for all relevant people involved in the application. Associates are a defined term within the Liquor Legislation, the full definition is on the declaration form, please read this carefully. Please see the examples below for assistance with completing this document:
  • A Company, Incorporated Association, and other corporate bodies (referred to as a Body Corporate):
    • Company ABC Pty Ltd has two directors Jane and John.
    • One of the directors must complete Part A on behalf of ABC Pty Ltd.
    • Each director must complete their own Part B.
  • Natural Person/Partnership example:
    • Jane is a sole natural person licensee, Jane must complete Part B only.
    • Jane and John are in partnership together, Jane and John must complete a Part B each.

Example 'Declaration of Associates' Form

To further assist with completion of this document, you can view an example declaration of associates form with relevant associates based on the scenario below.

Example scenario

ABC Pty Ltd is making an application for a liquor licence. Jane and John Smith are directors of ABC Pty Ltd,

In this example the applicants have listed Gary Batman in both Part A and each Part B as someone with a financial interest. Gary is not a director of the company, but he has invested money into the business to help them get started. They have also listed Sally Smith as a relative associate, Sally is John’s sister, she has experience in the hospitality industry and is going to provide help and advice as they establish their new Restaurant.