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The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) is the independent statutory authority that regulates Victoria's gambling and liquor industries.

Our vision is that Victorians and visitors enjoy safe and responsible gambling and liquor environments.

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Late night freeze

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Liquor Bar Night club

The Victorian Government has extended the freeze on granting new liquor licence applications to trade after 1am in local governments areas of Melbourne (including Docklands), Stonnington, Yarra and Port Phillip, until 30 June 2021.

During this time, applications for licences to trade past 1am in these areas will be assessed against the Decision making guidelines - restrictions on late night licences. (PDF, 316.05 KB)

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Who is affected by the freeze policy?

Applies to:

Does not apply to:

Applications in the local government areas of:

Melbourne (including the Docklands)
Port Phillip
Yarra
Stonnington.

Applications for local government areas other than those listed.

Applications for the grant, relocation and variation of the following licence types:

major event
general
on-premises
packaged liquor
limited (including renewable)
late night (general, on-premises and packaged liquor)
BYO permit.

Applications, relocations or variations of the following licence types:

restaurant and cafe
club and restricted club
producer's
pre-retail.

Permanent licences

Applications for the grant, relocation or variation of permanent liquor licences should satisfy the VCGLR that:

the premises:
is used as an accommodation hotel, or,
is a venue that supplies liquor for consumption on the premises provided food is available at all times when alcohol is supplied
patron capacity does not exceed 200
the economic and social benefit (PDF, 1.85 MB) of granting the licence will outweigh the impact of alcohol misuse and abuse and community amenity
a management plan (PDF, 140.82 KB) (PDF 144KB) is in place.

Live music venues

For venues that provide live music applications should satisfy the VCGLR that:

the premises is or will be used as a venue that regularly provides live music entertainment
a management plan is in place
the economic and social benefit of granting the licence will outweigh the impact of alcohol misuse and abuse and community amenity
patron capacity does not exceed 500 at any time
the impact of the venue on harm and amenity is low. In assessing this the Commission may consider matters such as venue layout and compliance history.

Temporary and major event licences

Applicants for the grant, relocation or variation of permanent liquor licences must satisfy the VCGLR that the application is for:

a significant cultural festival
a major tourist event
a major live music event
a major charity event
the broadcasting in any medium of a live major international sporting event;

And

a management plan (PDF, 140.82 KB) (PDF 144KB) is in place and that any food service conditions on the licence will be complied with until alcohol service finishes.