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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
iquor Legislation Amendment
Bill 2010
Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.
Overview of Bill
The object of this Bill is to give effect to certain measures set out in the
Government's action plan entitled "Hassle Free Nights". For that purpose, the Bill:
(a) provides for the establishment and implementation of precinct liquor accords
(which will operate on an on-going basis in precincts designated by the
Director-General of Communities NSW) and community event liquor accords
(which will operate on a temporary basis in relation to community events
designated by the Director-General), and
(b) enables any such liquor accord to include measures to minimise or prevent
alcohol-related violence or harm in, or to protect and support the good order
or amenity of, the precinct or area to which the liquor accord applies, and
(c) enables the Director-General to impose licence conditions requiring licensees
to participate in a precinct or community event liquor accord and, in the case
of a precinct liquor accord, also enables the Director-General to require
licensees to pay contributions towards the costs associated with the operation
of the accord, and
b2010-038-35.d17
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Explanatory note
(d) enables the Director-General to impose licence conditions affecting the
trading hours of any licensed premises, and
(e) extends, for a further period of 12 months, the freeze on the granting of liquor
licences and various other liquor-related authorisations and development
consents in relation to certain premises in central Sydney, and
(f) enables police officers and local council employees authorised by the
Commissioner of Police to confiscate alcohol from persons who are drinking
in a public place (such as a public park) that is situated in the precinct or area
to which a precinct or community event liquor accord applies and in which the
drinking of alcohol is prohibited under the Local Government Act 1993 by a
local council, and
(g) makes other amendments of a consequential or minor nature.
Outline of provisions
Clause 1 sets out the name (also called the short title) of the proposed Act.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on the date of assent
to the proposed Act.
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90
Precinct liquor accords and community event liquor accords
Schedule 1 [20] provides for the approval by the Director-General of Communities
NSW of precinct liquor accords and community event liquor accords. These liquor
accords may contain measures to minimise or prevent alcohol-related violence or to
protect or support the good order and amenity of the relevant precinct or area to
which the accord applies and may involve the participation of a variety of
stakeholders. The Director-General will be able to designate precincts to which a
precinct liquor accord is to apply and such an accord will operate until terminated by
the Director-General. A community event liquor accord will not be precinct-based
but rather will apply in relation to a particular event that might require the
implementation of liquor accord measures in more than one area. In either case, the
Director-General will be able to require licensees in the relevant precinct or area to
participate in (which includes comply with) the relevant liquor accord. The
Director-General will also be able, in the case of a precinct liquor accord, to direct
the licensee to contribute to the costs associated with the operation of the accord. The
amendment made by Schedule 1 [22] provides that a direction by the
Director-General to contribute to the costs of a precinct liquor accord is reviewable
by the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority (the Authority). Schedule 1
[23] provides that the Authority can, on review, vary or revoke the direction only if
the amount of the contribution was not determined in accordance with the relevant
precinct liquor accord.
Explanatory note page 2
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Explanatory note
Schedule 1 [1], [2], [9], [10] and [12]-[19] are consequential on the insertion of
provisions relating to precinct and community event liquor accords. In particular,
certain provisions that currently apply to local liquor accords are extended to precinct
and community event liquor accords.
icence conditions imposed by Director-General
Schedule 1 [4] enables the Director-General of Communities NSW to impose
licence conditions that affect the trading hours of licensed premises (such conditions
may currently be imposed by the Director-General but only as the result of a
disturbance complaint).
Schedule 1 [5] enables the Director-General to vary or revoke licence conditions that
have previously been imposed by the Authority if the condition relates to the trading
hours of licensed premises or relates to licensed premises situated in the precinct or
area to which a precinct or community event liquor accord applies.
Schedule 1 [6] makes it clear that the Director-General is not required to give a
licensee the opportunity to make submissions on a proposed variation or revocation
by the Director-General of a licence condition if the Director-General is making the
variation or revocation on the application of the licensee.
Schedule 1 [7], [8] and [21] are consequential on the amendments made by
Schedule 1 [4] and [5].
Miscellaneous amendments
Schedule 1 [3] extends, to 24 June 2011, the period during which the granting of
liquor licences and other liquor-related authorisations (including development
consents) is restricted in relation to certain premises in central Sydney.
Schedule 1 [11] makes it clear that the power under section 77 of the Liquor Act 2007
to turn people out of licensed premises does not limit any other right a person may
have to refuse to admit a person to, or to turn a person out of, licensed premises.
Schedule 1 [24] enables regulations of a savings or transitional nature to be made as
a consequence of the proposed Act.
Schedule 2 Amendment of Local Government Act
1993 No 30
Schedule 2 authorises police officers and local council employees authorised by the
Commissioner of Police to confiscate alcohol from persons who are drinking in a
public place (such as a public park) that is situated in the precinct or area to which a
precinct or community event liquor accord applies and in which the drinking of
alcohol is prohibited by a local council by a notice under section 632 of the Local
Government Act 1993. The power to confiscate alcohol from persons drinking in
such places includes the power to tip out the alcohol from the thing in which the
Explanatory note page 3
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Explanatory note
alcohol is contained. A similar confiscation and tip out power currently applies in
relation to alcohol-free zones (but these existing powers only apply in relation to
street drinking).
Explanatory note page 4
First print
New South Wales
iquor Legislation Amendment
Bill 2010
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of Local Government Act 1993 No 30 12
b2010-038-35.d17
New South Wales
iquor Legislation Amendment
Bill 2010
No , 2010
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Liquor Act 2007 to give effect to certain measures set out in the
Government's action plan entitled "Hassle Free Nights"; and for other purposes.
Clause 1 Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Liquor Legislation Amendment Act 2010. 3
2 Commencement 4
This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act. 5
Page 2
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 1
[1] Section 4 Definitions 2
Omit the definition of accord area from section 4 (1). 3
[2] Section 4 (1) 4
Insert in alphabetical order: 5
community event liquor accord--see section 136A. 6
liquor accord means a local liquor accord, precinct liquor accord 7
or community event liquor accord. 8
precinct liquor accord--see section 136A. 9
[3] Section 47A Definitions 10
Omit "24 June 2010" from paragraph (b) of the definition of freeze period in 11
section 47A (1). 12
Insert instead "24 June 2011". 13
[4] Section 54 Director-General may impose, vary or revoke licence 14
conditions 15
Insert after section 54 (1): 16
(1A) The conditions that may be imposed by the Director-General on 17
a licence include, but are not limited to, conditions: 18
(a) prohibiting the sale or supply of liquor on the licensed 19
premises before 10 am or after 11 pm (or both), and 20
(b) restricting the trading hours of, and public access to, the 21
licensed premises. 22
[5] Section 54 (2) 23
Omit the subsection. Insert instead: 24
(2) The Director-General may, on application by the licensee or the 25
Commissioner of Police or on the Director-General's own 26
initiative: 27
(a) vary or revoke a licence condition that has been imposed 28
by the Director-General under this section or any other 29
provision of this Act, or 30
(b) vary or revoke a licence condition: 31
(i) relating to the trading hours of any licensed 32
premises, or 33
Page 3
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90
(ii) relating to licensed premises situated wholly or 1
partly in the precinct to which a precinct liquor 2
accord applies or in an area to which a community 3
event liquor accord applies, 4
that has been imposed (or taken to have been imposed) by 5
the Authority. 6
[6] Section 54 (3) 7
Omit "that has been imposed by the Director-General under this or any other 8
section of this Act". 9
Insert instead "otherwise than on the application of the licensee". 10
[7] Section 54 (4) 11
Omit "imposed by the Director-General under this section or any other 12
provision of this Act". 13
[8] Section 54 (5) 14
Omit "This section". 15
Insert instead "Except in the case of a condition imposed under subsection 16
(1A) or in the case of the variation or revocation of a condition referred to in 17
subsection (2) (b), this section". 18
[9] Section 76 Self-exclusion of patrons from licensed premises 19
Omit "a party to a local" from section 76 (4). 20
Insert instead "participating in a". 21
[10] Section 77 Non-voluntary exclusion of persons from licensed premises 22
Omit "134) of a local" from section 77 (2) (e). 23
Insert instead "134 or 136D) of a". 24
[11] Section 77 (13) 25
Insert after section 77 (12): 26
(13) Nothing in this or any other section of this Act operates to limit 27
any other right a person has to refuse to admit a person to, or to 28
turn a person out of, licensed premises. 29
[12] Sections 81 (2) (e) and 159 (2) (f) 30
Omit "local" wherever occurring. 31
Page 4
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 Schedule 1
[13] Part 8, heading 1
Omit "Local liquor accords". Insert instead "Liquor accords". 2
[14] Part 8, Division 1, heading 3
Insert before section 131: 4
Division 1 Local liquor accords 5
[15] Section 131 Definitions 6
Omit "In this Part". Insert instead "For the purposes of this Act". 7
[16] Section 131, definition of "accord area" 8
Omit the definition. 9
[17] Sections 131 (paragraph (b) of definition of "local liquor accord") and 10
132 11
Omit "this Part" wherever occurring. Insert instead "this Division". 12
[18] Section 135 Approval, variation and termination of local liquor accord 13
Omit "accord area" from section 135 (3). 14
Insert instead "area to which the accord is to apply". 15
[19] Sections 135 (4) and 136 (1) 16
Omit "an accord area" wherever occurring. 17
Insert instead "the area to which a local liquor accord applies". 18
[20] Part 8, Division 2 19
Insert after section 136: 20
Division 2 Precinct liquor accords and community 21
event liquor accords 22
136A General provisions 23
(1) For the purposes of this Act, a precinct liquor accord or a 24
community event liquor accord is a set of measures, approved by 25
the Director-General under this Division, that aim to do either or 26
both of the following: 27
(a) to minimise or prevent alcohol-related violence or 28
anti-social behaviour, or other alcohol-related harm, in the 29
precinct or area to which the relevant liquor accord applies, 30
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Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90
(b) to protect and support the good order or amenity of any 1
such precinct or area in connection with issues arising 2
from the presence of, or any proposed increase in the 3
number of, licensed premises in that precinct or area. 4
(2) Each of the following persons or bodies may, in accordance with 5
arrangements established by the Director-General, participate in 6
a precinct liquor accord or community event liquor accord 7
(including the development of a proposed liquor accord): 8
(a) the licensee for any licensed premises situated in the 9
precinct or area to which the accord applies or is to apply, 10
(b) the Commissioner of Police, 11
(c) a local council, 12
(d) persons who are running businesses or commercial 13
operations in the precinct or area to which the accord 14
applies or is to apply, 15
(e) a community representative (as approved by the 16
Director-General) for the precinct or area to which the 17
accord applies or is to apply, 18
(f) such other persons or bodies as the Director-General 19
considers appropriate. 20
Note. Licensees can be required to participate in a liquor accord. See 21
section 136E. 22
(3) A precinct liquor accord or community event liquor accord does 23
not require the agreement of the accord participants to the 24
measures provided for by the accord. 25
136B Director-General may approve liquor accords for designated 26
precincts 27
(1) The Director-General may: 28
(a) designate a precinct as being a precinct to which a 29
proposed precinct liquor accord is to apply, and 30
(b) approve a precinct liquor accord for the designated 31
precinct, and 32
(c) vary, at any time, the terms of a precinct liquor accord. 33
(2) The designated precinct to which a precinct liquor accord applies 34
or is to apply must be shown on a map that is made publicly 35
available in such manner as the Director-General considers 36
appropriate. 37
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Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 Schedule 1
(3) The Director-General may approve a precinct liquor accord for a 1
designated precinct only if the Director-General is satisfied that: 2
(a) in the precinct there is, or there is a potential for, a 3
significant risk of harm to members of the public 4
associated with the misuse and abuse of liquor (including 5
harm arising from violence or other anti-social behaviour), 6
and 7
(b) the measures to be provided for by the accord are 8
necessary: 9
(i) to prevent harm to members of the public associated 10
with the misuse and abuse of liquor in the precinct 11
(including harm arising from violence or other 12
anti-social behaviour), or 13
(ii) to protect and support the good order or amenity of 14
the precinct in connection with issues arising from 15
the presence of, or any proposed increase in the 16
number of, licensed premises in the precinct. 17
(4) The Director-General may terminate a precinct liquor accord at 18
any time by notice in writing given to the persons or bodies 19
participating in the accord. 20
136C Director-General may approve liquor accords for community 21
events 22
(1) The Director-General may: 23
(a) designate a community event as being an event to which a 24
proposed community event liquor accord is to apply, and 25
(b) approve a community event liquor accord for that 26
designated event, and 27
(c) vary, at any time, the terms of a community event liquor 28
accord. 29
(2) A community event liquor accord applies during the period, and 30
to the area, specified in the accord. Any such period may include 31
a period before or after the designated community event takes 32
place and the area to which the accord applies may comprise 33
more than one specified area (whether or not those areas are 34
contiguous). 35
(3) In approving a community event liquor accord, the 36
Director-General is to make publicly available, in such manner as 37
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Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90
the Director-General considers appropriate, each of the 1
following: 2
(a) the name or description of the community event to which 3
the accord relates, 4
(b) the period during which the accord is to apply, 5
(c) a map showing the area to which the accord is to apply. 6
(4) The Director-General may approve a community event liquor 7
accord for a community event only if the Director-General is 8
satisfied that: 9
(a) in the area in which the accord is to apply there is, or there 10
is a potential for, a significant risk of harm to members of 11
the public associated with the misuse and abuse of liquor 12
(including harm arising from violence or other anti-social 13
behaviour), and 14
(b) the measures to be provided for by the accord are 15
necessary: 16
(i) to prevent harm to members of the public associated 17
with the misuse and abuse of liquor in the area in 18
which the accord is to apply (including harm arising 19
from violence or other anti-social behaviour), or 20
(ii) to protect and support the good order or amenity of 21
that area in connection with issues arising from the 22
presence of, or proposed increase in the number of, 23
licensed premises in that area. 24
136D Content of precinct and community event liquor accords 25
(1) A precinct liquor accord or community event liquor accord may 26
include such measures as the Director-General considers are 27
necessary: 28
(a) to minimise or prevent alcohol-related violence or 29
anti-social behaviour or other alcohol-related harm in the 30
precinct or area to which the accord applies, or 31
(b) to protect and support the good order or amenity of any 32
such precinct or area in connection with issues arising 33
from the presence of, or proposed increase in the number 34
of, licensed premises in the precinct or area concerned. 35
(2) The Director-General must give notice of the terms of a precinct 36
liquor accord or community event liquor accord, and of any 37
variation to the terms of such an accord: 38
(a) to each licensee who is required to participate in the 39
accord, and 40
Page 8
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 Schedule 1
(b) to such other participants in the accord as the 1
Director-General considers appropriate. 2
(3) Without limiting the measures that may be included in a precinct 3
liquor accord or community event liquor accord, any such accord 4
may include measures requiring a licensee to do any one or more 5
of the following: 6
(a) to cease serving liquor (including take-away liquor) on the 7
licensed premises during such times as are specified in the 8
accord, 9
(b) to restrict the public's access to the licensed premises in a 10
manner and to the extent provided by the accord, 11
(c) to restrict the use of glass containers on the licensed 12
premises, 13
(d) to maintain an incident register, 14
(e) to install and operate closed-circuit television or any other 15
security device on the licensed premises, 16
(f) to provide security staff in or about the licensed premises. 17
(4) The provisions of section 134 (2) and (3) apply to or in respect of 18
a precinct liquor accord or community event liquor accord in the 19
same way as those provisions apply to or in respect of a local 20
liquor accord (except that section 134 (2) applies as if the 21
reference to a person entering into a local liquor accord were a 22
reference to a person or body participating in a precinct liquor 23
accord or community event liquor accord). 24
136E Requirement to participate in precinct or community event liquor 25
accord 26
(1) The Director-General may, in the case of licensed premises 27
situated wholly or partly in the precinct to which a precinct liquor 28
accord applies or in the area to which a community event liquor 29
accord applies, impose conditions on the licence, by notice in 30
writing to the licensee, requiring the licensee to participate in the 31
liquor accord for that precinct or area. 32
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if: 33
(a) the sale or supply of liquor after midnight on licensed 34
premises is authorised at least once a week on a regular 35
basis, and 36
(b) the licensed premises are situated wholly or partly in the 37
precinct to which a precinct liquor accord applies or in the 38
area to which a community event liquor accord applies, 39
Page 9
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Schedule 1 Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90
it is a condition of the licence that the licensee, on being notified 1
in writing by the Director-General, participate in the liquor 2
accord for that precinct or area. 3
(3) For the purposes of this section, participate in a liquor accord 4
means participate in the development, implementation and 5
operation of the accord and, without limitation, includes any of 6
the following: 7
(a) developing the measures to be provided for by the accord, 8
(b) complying with those measures to the extent that they 9
apply to the licensee, 10
(c) developing and maintaining the mechanisms and 11
processes that support the operation of the accord, 12
(d) participating in any committee established under the 13
accord. 14
(4) Subsection (2) does not, however, operate to require a licensee to 15
participate in a committee established under a liquor accord. 16
(5) A reference in this section to a liquor accord includes a reference 17
to a proposed liquor accord and a reference to the precinct or area 18
to which a liquor accord applies includes a reference to the 19
proposed precinct or area to which the accord is to apply. 20
(6) Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to a limited licence. 21
136F Precinct liquor accord contributions and fund 22
(1) The Director-General may, by direction in writing to any licensee 23
who is required under this Division to participate in a precinct 24
liquor accord, require the licensee to pay a contribution towards 25
the costs associated with the operation of the accord (including 26
any projects or initiatives carried out under the accord). 27
(2) The amount of any such contribution is to be determined by the 28
Director-General in accordance with the terms of the accord. 29
(3) Any money paid to the Director-General under this section is to 30
be paid into a Precinct Liquor Accord Fund established in the 31
Special Deposits Account. A separate account in that Fund is to 32
be kept for the purposes of each precinct liquor accord. 33
(4) The Director-General has the control and management of the 34
Precinct Liquor Accord Fund. 35
(5) Money held in any separate account of the Precinct Liquor 36
Accord Fund is to be applied only for the purposes of funding the 37
carrying out of projects and activities under the precinct liquor 38
accord in respect of which the separate account is kept. 39
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Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Liquor Act 2007 No 90 Schedule 1
(6) Any amount required to be paid to the Director-General under 1
this section may, if the amount is not paid within the time 2
specified by the Director-General in the direction to the licensee 3
concerned, be recovered by the Director-General from the 4
licensee as a debt due to the Crown for payment into the Precinct 5
Liquor Accord Fund. 6
Note. Failure to comply with a direction under this section may also 7
constitute grounds for taking disciplinary action against the licensee 8
under Part 9. 9
[21] Section 153 Review by Authority of Director-General's decisions 10
Omit section 153 (1) (a). Insert instead: 11
(a) a decision to impose a condition under section 54 12
(Director-General may impose, vary or revoke licence 13
conditions), 14
(a1) a decision under section 54 to vary or revoke a condition 15
of a licence, 16
[22] Section 153 (1) (h1) 17
Insert after section 153 (1) (h): 18
(h1) a direction under section 136F (Precinct liquor accord 19
contributions and fund), 20
[23] Section 153 (4A) 21
Insert after section 153 (4): 22
(4A) However, in the case of a review of a direction by the 23
Director-General under section 136F, the Authority may vary or 24
revoke the Director-General's decision only if the Authority is 25
satisfied that the amount of the contribution directed to be paid 26
was not determined in accordance with the terms of the relevant 27
precinct liquor accord. 28
[24] Schedule 1 Savings and transitional provisions 29
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 30
Liquor Legislation Amendment Act 2010 31
Page 11
Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Schedule 2 Amendment of Local Government Act 1993 No 30
Schedule 2 Amendment of Local Government Act 1
1993 No 30 2
Section 632A 3
Insert after section 632: 4
632A Confiscation of alcohol in certain alcohol prohibited areas 5
(1) A police officer or an enforcement officer may seize any alcohol 6
(and the bottle, can, receptacle or package in which it is 7
contained) that is in the immediate possession of a person in an 8
alcohol prohibited area if the officer has reasonable cause to 9
believe that the person: 10
(a) is drinking, or 11
(b) is about to drink, or 12
(c) has recently been drinking, 13
alcohol in the alcohol prohibited area. 14
(2) Any alcohol or thing seized under this section is, by virtue of the 15
seizure, forfeited: 16
(a) if seized by a police officer--to the State, or 17
(b) if seized by an enforcement officer--to the council that 18
employs the officer. 19
(3) Any alcohol seized under this section may: 20
(a) be disposed of immediately by tipping it out of the bottle, 21
can, receptacle or package in which it is contained, or 22
(b) be otherwise disposed of in accordance with directions 23
given by the Commissioner of Police or the council (as the 24
case requires). 25
(4) In this section: 26
alcohol prohibited area means a public place: 27
(a) situated wholly or partly in the precinct to which a precinct 28
liquor accord (within the meaning of the Liquor Act 2007) 29
applies or in the area to which a community event liquor 30
accord (within the meaning of that Act) applies, and 31
(b) in which the drinking of alcohol is prohibited by a notice 32
under section 632. 33
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Liquor Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
Amendment of Local Government Act 1993 No 30 Schedule 2
enforcement officer means an employee of a council authorised 1
in writing by the Commissioner of Police to be an enforcement 2
officer for the purposes of this section. 3
Page 13
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