Management plans for supplying liquor

What is a management plan?

A management plan is a detailed document that you, as a licensee or an applicant for a liquor licence, can create. It specifies the policies, procedures and practices that you, as the licensee will have in place to minimise the risk of alcohol-related harm. It also provides guidance to you and your staff on actions that will be taken to ensure you’re meeting your obligations under the liquor laws and the conditions of your licence. It is the responsibility of all staff to follow the plan.

When you apply for a liquor licence, you may be required to provide a plan. If your application does not ask for a plan, LCV may still request one from you during the assessment of your application. Below is some guidance on what a management plan should include.

Types of management plans

There are three main management plans that LCV may ask you for, depending on the nature of your business or event. The plan will help us ensure that you understand your obligations and have practices in place to reduce risks.

A venue management plan is a plan to help venues such as live music venues, bars and restaurants manage the supply of liquor and the safety of their staff and patrons.
An alcohol management plan is to help licensees who supply packaged liquor manage the risks of alcohol-related harms and their obligations as a licensee.
An event management plan is designed to help businesses holding pop-up or one-off events manage the risks associated with the supply of liquor.

Some licence holders must have a management plan

While some licensee have a condition on their licence to have a plan in place, it is not mandatory for everyone.

Applicants seeking to vary their licence conditions for a live music venue and applicants subject to the late night liquor licence guidelines in the municipalities of Melbourne (including Docklands), Stonnington, Yarra and Port Phillip, must provide a venue management plan to LCV as part of their application.

If you want to sell discounted or promotional liquor or rapidly delivered packaged liquor, you will need to submit an alcohol management plan. Rapid delivery of liquor is when you deliver packaged liquor within 2 hours of the order being made.

LCV encourages all businesses that supply liquor to have an appropriate management plan in place.

Venue Management plan

A well-developed venue management plan identifies and enforces a responsible approach to running the venue and is a statement of actions to be taken by your venue. Your venue management plan should reflect an ethical approach to operating your business. A venue management plan should include such things as:

- details of the liquor licence being applied for and/or currently held
- hours of operation of the venue
- details of the maximum number of customers to be permitted on the premises
- security or crowd controller arrangements, including the number of personnel and their hours of operation
- lighting on and outside the premises (security and safety)
- existing noise reduction measures (for example, enclosing outdoor generators to minimise noise, sound barriers installed in beer gardens)
- bottle storage and removal arrangements, including hours of pick-up
- general rubbish storage and removal arrangements, including hours of pick-up
- contact details for public services such as co-health, police, emergency services and taxis.
- responsible service of alcohol principles (for example, provision of free drinking water, managing intoxicated and disorderly customers, restricting the types of drinks served after midnight)
- managing minors on premises
- drugs and weapons on premises
- dealing with theft and damage on premises
- first aid (including training of staff, location and maintenance of first aid kits).
- managing entry and exits and pass-out arrangements (if any)
- details of any regular special events and specific management strategies for dealing with such special events
- managing incidents on premises (for example, drink spiking, gender-based violence, minors on premises)
- responding to drugs and weapons found on premises
- emergency evacuation procedures
- monitoring and handling noise reduction measures for the venue (for example, keeping doors and windows closed when bands play, curtains or soundproofing for insulation) to prevent excessive amplified noise
- assisting customers to safely leave the premises (for example, public transport options that are available nearby, including taxis)
- a complaint handling process to be put in place to effectively manage complaints received from neighbouring and nearby businesses and local residents (for example, a detailed complaints register kept at the premises).

Alcohol management plan

An alcohol management plan is a detailed document specifying the policies, procedures and practices that you, as the licensee of a business that sells packaged liquor, create to ensure your shop, venue or online business is compliant with the laws and mitigating alcohol-related harms.

LCV encourages all businesses that supply packaged liquor to have an alcohol management plan in place.

An alcohol management should include things such as:

- details of the liquor being supplied
- hours of operation of the shop or online business
- information around safety measures of the venue (if applicable) such as lighting and/or CCTV
- mandatory signage and licence conditions
- on-going training of staff in policies and procedures
- contact details for public services such as police, emergency services, and Directline.
- responsible service of alcohol principals, such as identifying signs of intoxication or drunkenness
- refusal of service
- ID checks/proof of age and acceptable forms of ID
- management of minors
- preventing secondary supply
- self exclusion policies (if any)
- management of risks during high turnover periods
- incident register.
- advertising and promotional guidelines of liquor
- what kinds of discounts or promotions you intend to have (2-for-1, bulk buys, half price sales, etc)
- management of risks with promotions and discounts.
- no delivery of liquor after 11pm on any day
- attended deliveries procedures
- unattended deliveries procedures
- instructions to delivery drivers around ID/intoxication
- refused/failed deliveries procedures, recording and reporting.

Event management plan

A well-developed event management plan identifies and enforces a responsible approach to running your event and is a statement of actions to be taken by you.

If you already have a venue and are hosting special events, consider creating a separate event management plan.

An event management plan should include such things as:

- contact details for the event manager and any other relevant staff
- details of the liquor to be supplied and methods of supply
- details of the event, such as name and location(s)
- details of any other permissions required (such as Council permits)
- specifics of the event such as trading hours and maximum patron capacities
- noise reduction measures (barriers, fencing, location of speakers, etc)
- security or crowd controller arrangements, including the number of personnel and their hours of operation
- lighting on and outside the premises (security and safety)
- contact details for public services such as co-health, police, emergency services and taxis.
- responsible service of alcohol principles (for example, provision of free drinking water, managing intoxicated and disorderly customers, restricting the types of drinks served after midnight)
- managing minors on premises
- drugs and weapons on premises
- dealing with theft and damage on premises
- first aid (including training of staff, location and maintenance of first aid kits).
- patron management procedures (corralling, managing entry and exits, pass-out arrangements (if any), ticketing and/or wrist banding arrangements)
- managing incidents at the event (for example, drink spiking, gender-based violence, minors on premises, drugs or weapons found on at the event)
- emergency evacuation procedures
- monitoring and handling noise reduction measures for the event
- assisting customers to safely leave the premises (for example, public transport options that are available nearby, including taxis)
- bottle storage and removal arrangements, including hours of pick-up
- procedures for setting up and packing up at the start and end of the event
- a complaint handling and incident report process to be put in place to effectively manage complaints and incidents received during the event.

Keeping the plan current

Your plan should include details of how these practices will remain up to date (for example, ongoing staff training, annual review of the plan).

Your management plan should be:

be dated, and include clear headings and page numbers (for example, 1 of 4 pages)
include contact details of your local police
be easily accessible by staff
be updated as your business or licence conditions change
be available upon request by LCV or Victoria Police.

For more information, see your licencee obligations.

Business & the workplace

Updated 17 June 2024