Club liquor licence

You can apply for either a:

full club liquor licence
restricted club liquor licence.

Some clubs may also prefer a renewable limited liquor licence.

Key features

Full club licence

Usually best for large commercial clubs with a large number of members.
Club members can drink at the venue or take away.
Guests of members and authorised gaming visitors can drink at the venue only (no take away alcohol).
Anyone attending a function or club event can drink at the venue only.
You can allow BYO alcohol at your venue, if you want.
Usually requires membership of some kind to access the venue.
Must keep a register of members, guests and authorised gaming visitors.

An authorised gaming visitor:

is not a member of the club
lives more than 5 kilometres away from the club (metropolitan Melbourne) or more than 10 kilometres from the club if in regional Victoria.

Ordinary trading hours are:

any time Monday to Saturday
10 am to 11 pm Sunday
12 noon to 11 pm ANZAC Day and Good Friday.

Restricted club licence

For clubs of any size, but especially community and sporting clubs.
Club members, their guests and anyone attending a function or club event can drink at the venue only.
Sell alcohol from a bar or kiosk (the point of sale) for people to drink outside, such as in the stands while watching a match.
Usually requires membership of some kind to access the venue.
Anyone attending a function or club event can drink at the venue only.
You can allow BYO alcohol at your venue, if you want.
Must keep a register of members, guests and authorised visitors.
No set trading hours. Hours are requested and must be approved.
Lower annual renewal fee than most other licence types.

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

Who this licence suits

A full club liquor licence suits:

gaming venues (for example, poker machine venues)
large racing venues (for example, Victorian Racing Club)
Australian Football League (AFL) team venues.
large commercial venues with a members lounge, bistro and some other facilities.

A restricted club liquor licence suits:

small sporting clubs (for example, football, cricket, netball clubs)
volunteer-run returned services league (RSL) clubs
recreational clubs (for example, golf, language or social clubs)
clubs housed within council facilities or sharing with other clubs (if sharing, cannot overlap hours, days or seasons)
not-for-profit venues.

Application fees

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

For a full club liquor licence, if your venue capacity is:

0 to 200 customers, the application fee is $504.30
201 to 400 customers, the application fee is $682.70
401 or more customers, the application fee is $840.50.

For a restricted club liquor licence, the application fee is $252.20.

Read about liquor licence annual renewal fees.

Before you apply

Complete these steps before you start your application.

Only an authorised person can apply for the licence. This depends on who is applying.
If you are applying as:
- an individual, you must apply for the licence yourself (on the form this is called a 'natural person')
- a company, a current director or someone the board has officially authorised to sign documents must apply
- an incorporated association, an executive committee member must apply
- a partnership, a partner must apply (partnerships can only be made up of individuals).
Have these details and documents ready:
- club name
- trading hours
- proof of required training – either a certificate of completion or booking confirmation
- red line plan that shows where alcohol will be sold and consumed
- maximum patron capacity (how many customers your venue can hold). Get this from your planning permit, if it's listed as a condition, or find out how to show it on your red line plan.
- venue management plan, if you will have live or amplified music
- credit card details – to pay the non-refundable application fee (Visa or Mastercard).
The form will ask you to declare that you have the right to occupy the venue. You must have a property title, lease or other legal document that gives you the right.
You no longer need to upload a council planning permit with your application. Instead, upload the LCV new licence or permit planning document when the form asks for a planning permit. This is a temporary step until we update the form. You can upload a planning permit instead, if you have one.

LCV new licence or permit planning document
PDF 112.91 KB

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Apply now

Complete the application form on the Service Victoria website.

It takes about 45 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 and the relevant local council. This gives both a chance to object to your licence if they have concerns.

Victoria Police may contact you about your application.

We will email you if:
- your application has missing or incorrect details
- we need additional information to help us assess your application.
Make sure you respond to any request by the date we give in the email.
If you do not, we may refuse your application – you will lose your application fee.
We’ll email you instructions on when and how to display your public notice for 28 days.
The notice lets the community know about your application and gives them a chance to have their say.
When displaying the notice at your venue, you must:
- use our public notice template
Public notice
PDF 303.56 KB

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- place it where people walking past can easily see it
- display it during the dates we tell you.
After your public notice goes up, the community has 30 days to object to your application.
They must explain how the licence could negatively affect the area’s amenity – for example, noise or disruption to their quiet enjoyment of living there.
Victoria Police and the local council may also object to the licence.
If we receive any valid objections, we’ll contact you to respond.
For example, if someone raises a concern about noise, you could explain how you plan to manage it.
We’ll take this into account when we assess your application.

When you get your decision

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

It may take longer if someone objected to your licence or we needed to ask for more information.

We email to advise that we are granting your licence.
The email tells you how to sign up to our Liquor Portal.
It's important that you register. It's where you can:
- access your annual renewal notice
- download a copy of your licence and red line plan
- manage your notifications
- update contact details and other actions.
Find out how to manage your licence.
Stay compliant
Be aware of your obligations under the law and as a licensee.
There are serious penalties if you do not comply.
Find out how to stay compliant.
You can appeal the:
- decision to grant or refuse the licence
- details of the licence, for example, the licence conditions or red line plan.
When to appeal
You must appeal within 28 days of receiving the licence decision.
How to appeal
1. Complete the internal review application form. It has details on the reasons for appeals we can accept.
Internal review application
PDF 1.56 MB

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2. Send the form to us either by:
- Email: secretariat@liquor.vic.gov.au
- Mail: Liquor Control Victoria
  GPO Box 4356
  MELBOURNE VIC 3001
3. We will email you with next steps. This may take a few weeks.

If your club shares facilities

Many clubs share facilities seasonally, such as football in winter and cricket in summer.

The Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 requires that a single licensee must be responsible for a liquor licence. When 2 or more clubs share the same venue over a similar period, each holds their own liquor licence and both pay annual licence fees.

To reduce licence fees and administration, you can merge your clubs.

One club takes full responsibility for the liquor licence, including compliance and behaviour of all members and guests.
In this situation, only the one club can supply alcohol.
Consider this carefully:
- There are serious penalties for non-compliance.
- It may be better if each club retained their own restricted club licence.
Read how to merge club licences.

Before you decide

Before choosing an option, consider governance, profit sharing and legal arrangements, such as leases with local councils.

Liquor Control Victoria cannot advise on your club structure, but we can explain your options for licensing if you contact us.

Club liquor licence

On this page

Key features

Full club licence

Restricted club licence

Who this licence suits

Application fees

Before you apply

Apply now

After you apply

When you get your decision

If your club shares facilities

Before you decide