Restaurant and cafe liquor licence

Key features

Preparing and serving meals must be your main activity at all times (for example, your venue cannot turn into a bar at night).
Sell alcohol for customers to drink at your venue until 1 am.
Sell a limited amount of packaged alcohol with takeaway or home-delivered meals until 11 pm (a bottle of wine or a 6-pack of beer, cider or pre-mixed spirits). Tell us in the form if you want to do this.
Sell and allow customers to drink alcohol in outdoor dining areas until 11 pm (with council permission).
You can allow BYO alcohol at your venue, if you want.
Tables and chairs must be set up so at least 75% of your customers can sit.
No loud music (live or recorded) after 11 pm.
Can trade after 1 am, but if you do your annual renewal fee is much higher.
Can apply to do off-site catering, so you can serve alcohol at private events.
Sell any type or amount of alcohol, unless otherwise stated on your licence.

Trading hours

This licence allows you to trade from:

7 am to 1 am the following morning Monday to Saturday (except ANZAC Day and Good Friday)
10 am to 1 am the following morning Sunday
12 noon to 1 am on ANZAC Day and Good Friday.

If you want to trade after 1 am, you can ask for this when you apply. Read about late night trading.

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

This licence suits businesses whose main activity is preparing and serving meals.

For example:

restaurants
cafes.

Application fees

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

If your venue capacity is:

zero to 200 customers, the fee is $504.30
201 to 400 customers, the fee is $739.60
401 or more customers, the fee is $1,008.60.

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'.
- on behalf of a company, a current director or someone the board has officially authorised to sign documents must apply
- for an incorporated association, an executive committee member must apply
- as a partnership, a partner must apply (partnerships can only be made up of individuals).
Have these details and documents ready:
- business 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 council planning permit, if it's listed as a condition, or find out how to show it on your red line plan.
- kerbside permit from the council, if relevant
- ASIC current and historical information extract (only if applying as a company). The extract must be dated within the past 90 days. To buy one, search organisations and business names in the ASIC register. Make sure you have the correct document. We cannot process your application without it.
- venue management plan, if you want to 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 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 Liquor Portal.

The form takes about 45 minutes to complete.

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

Apply now

After you apply

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

We 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.

Restaurant and cafe liquor licence

On this page

Key features

Trading hours

Who this licence suits

Application fees

Before you apply

Apply now

After you apply

When you get your decision