In this behind-the-scenes conversation, we sat down with Erin Williams, who leads the Licensing and Transformation division at Liquor Control Victoria (LCV), to hear how the team approaches reform, their experience partnering with DTF, and top tips for other regulators.
At LCV, reform is practical, people-focused, and driven by a clear purpose: to make regulation work better for the 23,000 licensed venues across Victoria - from bars and bottle shops to wineries and restaurants.
From digitising licence renewals to untangling red tape, LCV has been rethinking how it regulates, step by step.
You’ve had a couple of initiatives funded through the Business Acceleration Fund (BAF), and the liquor licence renewal project really stood out. Can you tell us about that?
The liquor licence renewal project was all about making it easier for licensees to pay their annual fee. The old process required a lot of manual reconciliation.
We worked with Service Victoria to set up a simpler online portal. You enter your licence number, it tells you what’s due, and you pay with a credit card. What used to take 25 minutes now takes less than a minute. Our satisfaction score has stayed above 93 per cent since launch, which is really rewarding. Importantly, it also freed up our staff to focus on processing applications, so venues can open sooner.
This was our first big project with Service Victoria, and since then, we’ve worked together very collaboratively to deliver digital application forms, which have been a gamechanger. We’d like to get to the point where Service Victoria is the one-stop destination for managing everything related to their liquor licence.
What kind of support has DTF provided to you over the years?
We’ve had a longstanding relationship with the Regulatory Reform team at DTF, they’ve always been a great sounding board and enabler. They supported us to deliver online liquor licence renewals, helped us get ‘digitally ready’ to replace our cantankerous reg-tech systems, and we’re now working on a major overhaul of our website to make it easier for the public to find what they need.
DTF played a central role in bringing agencies together to untangle some tricky co-regulatory issues, such as removing a duplicative approval process for liquor licence applicants. They’ve also been great connectors: when we’re stuck on a problem, I’ll often reach out for advice and to see if they know someone else tackling the same thing.
We’re also looking into a potential Digital and AI project with the DTF team at the moment. We’re excited - but also careful about how we approach the project. We want to ensure that we take responsible steps and put the right safeguards in place.
All of this support has helped us become a more efficient, modern regulator - and freed our people up from “busy work”.
What’s made that collaboration work so well?
The DTF team are really engaged. They understand the legacy challenges we’re dealing with, but they also get the strategy behind the incremental improvements we’re making, and how that adds up to real benefit for Victorians.
We have a shared goal: improving user experience and delivering economic value. That’s not always easy to shift without strong, consistent support from government. Programs like the BAF (and before that, the RRIF) exist because of their advocacy for investing in regulators.
They bring a different perspective to the table - one we don’t always have in-house. They operate like supportive advisors and navigators. They’re always there to bounce ideas off and push us to think outside our own bubble.
What advice would you give to other regulators looking to implement reforms?
- Understand the problem you’re trying to solve - and look at it from your users’ point of view, not just your internal process.
- You don’t need to solve everything at once. Build a roadmap and communicate that with your team. It makes the work easier to manage and gives everyone clarity. This also helps you break the reform task into manageable chunks, which you can put up as business cases.
- Reach across government: so many of us are dealing with the same issues, and chances are, someone else has already tackled the thing you’re stuck on. I often say: “all regulators basically do the same thing, we’re just regulating a different harm”.
- And don’t forget that your frontline staff are the subject matter experts of that harm. Make sure they’re involved in designing reform, especially digital change. That said, they’re often deep in bespoke processes, so you need to lead out of the detail. Better Regulation Victoria's Better Practice Permissions and Inspections Playbooks should be compulsory reading for anyone leading digital reform in regulators.
- Reform means change, and change can be hard. When we shift rules or systems and change the way people do their jobs, we risk making people question their own sense of competency. Don’t underestimate the onboarding and support it takes to help people feel confident in a new way of working.
- And finally, measure your impact. If you’re expecting quantifiable benefits like faster decisions, less cost or fewer emails, capture your baseline before you start and then measure the improvements. With most changes you may not see the benefit straight away: impact lag is real as people transition to a new way of working.
Thanks, Erin, for those great tips! Do you have any advice for someone thinking about working with DTF?
Don’t be intimidated by the fact that they’re in a central agency, they’re a very friendly bunch and are genuinely there to support and challenge you in the best way. They’re working on a huge array of projects and are very well connected with other parts of government who are doing similar work to you. They’ve been instrumental in helping us to progress things we could never have done without support.
A few final reflections from our team at DTF
Working with LCV so far has been a genuine partnership. Erin and the team are collaborative, open to new ideas, and consistently thoughtful in how they approach reform. They’ve made the most of the support we offer, and the work speaks for itself.
What’s stood out most is their focus. They’re committed to reforms that deliver real outcomes: faster approvals, simpler processes, less red tape -all while keeping community impact front and centre.
If you're a regulator or local government body thinking about your next step, don’t wait until everything’s mapped out.
We’re always happy to have a conversation: whether you’re exploring an idea, looking for resources, or just want to hear how others are doing it.
Got a reform idea or want to explore what’s possible?
The DTF Regulatory Reform team is here to help. We offer support through the Business Acceleration Fund, legislative tools like model provisions, frameworks to guide your approach, and strong connections across government.
Contact us via email at reg.reform@dtf.vic.gov.au.
LCV Transformation Roadmap
Updated