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BYO permit

Allow BYO alcohol at your restaurant, club or commercial party bus.

A BYO permit allows customers to bring their own alcohol to drink at your venue.

Licences that allow BYO

If you have one of these liquor licence types, it already allows customers to BYO:

  • General
  • Restaurant and cafe
  • On-premises
  • Full club
  • Restricted club.

If you do not have one of these, and you want to allow BYO, you need to apply for a permit.

If you want to offer BYO at a one-off event, you may need a temporary limited licence instead.

Key features

  • You can allow BYO alcohol at your venue, if you want.
  • Only for restaurants (including cafes), clubs and commercial party buses, whether included in the ticket price or not.
  • Cannot sell alcohol at your venue.
  • Request your trading hours when you apply.

Commercial party buses

You are defined as a commercial party bus if your bus is:

  • hired for payment
  • carries pre-booked passengers.

Commercial party buses need a BYO permit only if they operate:

  • between 8 pm and 5 am (regardless of customer pick-up time)
  • in a designated area or carry customers to, from or through a designated area.

They must comply with the Code of Conduct for Bus Operators. This outlines the standards of customer and operator behaviour we expect.

Apply at least 11 weeks before you need a permit. It may take longer if we need more information or if there are objections.

Who this permit suits

This permit suits if you want to allow BYO alcohol at a:

  • restaurant
  • cafe
  • club
  • commercial party bus.

If you have another venue type, you cannot apply for this permit.

Explore all liquor licence types.

Application fees

You need to pay a non-refundable application fee when you apply.

The fee for a BYO permit is $336.20.

Read about liquor licence annual renewal fees.

Before you apply

Complete these steps before you start your application.

Apply now

Complete the application form on the Service Victoria website.

It takes about 40 minutes to complete.

Get help with unfamiliar words and details in the application form.

Apply now

After you apply

Service Victoria will email to acknowledge your application, including a receipt for your application fee.

Liquor Control Victoria will then review your application and email if we need more information. This may take a few weeks.

We send your application to Victoria Police. This gives them a chance to object to your licence if they have concerns.

Victoria Police may contact you to discuss your application.

When you get your decision

It can take about 9 to 11 weeks to get your decision.

It may take longer if Victoria Police objected to your permit or we needed to ask for more information.

Updated