Environmental Health - Liquor Licensing

The sale and supply of liquor requires a licence.

There are a variety of liquor licences and associated application processes under the Sale of Liquor Act 1989. Further information is available below, or by telephoning the Council's Customer Services Centre on 295 1300, 8.00am to 4.30pm Monday to Friday.

Liquor Licensing

• Liquor Licences
  1. On licence
  2. Off licence
  3. Club licence
  4. Special licence
• Planning and Building Approval Requirements
• Fees
• Liquor Licensing Process
• Licence Application forms
• Temporary Authority to operate a licence
• Renewal of an existing licence
• Time Frame for processing new licences and renewals
• Manager's Certificates
• Lodging an application
• Objections
• Useful Links

Sale of Liquor Act and Liquor Licence Applications

The sale and supply of liquor requires a licence. There are a variety of liquor licences and associated application processes under the Sale of Liquor Act 1989.

Sale of Liquor Act 1989

The Sale of Liquor Act 1989 came into force on 1 April 1990. One of the objectives of the Act is "to establish a reasonable system of control over the sale and supply of liquor to the public with the aim of contributing to the reduction of liquor abuse, so far as that can be achieved by legislative means…"

Liquor Licences

A liquor licence allows the holder of a licence to sell or supply liquor on or from the premises, whereas a manager's certificate provides for the management of the sale or supply of liquor. Information on how to make a manager's certificate application is available here.

The Papakura District Licensing Authority (DLA) as an agency of the Liquor Licensing Authority (LLA), receives all applications for liquor licences and manager's certificate applications.

There are four main types of liquor licences - On, Off, Club and Special.

1. On licence

An On licence enables a person to sell or supply alcohol for consumption on a premises or conveyance. Typically a bar, pub, tavern, club, hotel, restaurant or café operate under this type of licence.

A BYO licence can be obtained to allow the consumption of alcohol on the premises but the holder of the licence cannot sell alcohol apart from alcohol used in prepared food or special coffees.

2. Off licence

An off licence allows the sale, supply or delivery of alcohol for consumption off the premises. A typical example of this type of licence is a stand alone bottle store.

Off licences can be obtained for other types of premises, but some premises (e.g. supermarkets) are restricted to the sale of beer and wine, and other types of premises (e.g. dairy shops) are prohibited from having an off licence.

Section 36 of the Sale of Liquor Act must be satisfied in all cases.

3. Club licence

A club licence enables the sale or supply of liquor on the premises of a club to club members, their guests and members of clubs with reciprocal visiting rights.