Guideline 41: Sale of complementary goods at bottle shops and liquor barns

Liquor Act 1992: Section 152 - prohibition on other use of premises

152(1) A licensee must not, without the Commissioner of Liquor and Gaming's prior approval:

  • conduct or permit to be conducted, or advertise or represent himself or herself as conducting, on the licensed premises, a business other than:
    • that authorised by the licence.

For the purposes of enforcement and administration of the Liquor Act 1992, licensees are permitted to provide non-liquor items that complement off-the-premises liquor consumption without a requirement of an application for approval to 'conduct another business' on the premises – provided that:

  1. the provision of such items within bottle shops is restricted to the following:
    • detached bottle shops - a total floor space of no more than 5% of the total floor space available of the detached bottle shop.
  2. attached bottle shops or liquor barns – a total floor space of no more than 2% of the total floor space available of the attached bottle shop or liquor barn.
  3. space provided for the sale of complementary goods must be:
    • delineated from the main area of the bottle shop and
    • a contiguous percentage of the floor space. (that is, the delineated area must be in 1 area).
  4. the provision of non-liquor items is restricted to goods that complement off-the-premises consumption of liquor - for example:
    • cheese, crackers, potato chips and nuts.
  5. the provision of non-liquor items that do not complement off-the-premises consumption of liquor are not permitted for sale, for example:
    • fire starters, heat beads, plastic cutlery, ice-creams, frozen goods (pizzas, burgers, pies and TV dinners) and deli meats.

Note: Where a licensee intends to provide services outside this guideline - an application to the Commissioner is required to be made to conduct another business on the premises.

Re-issued 24 January 2013
Issued 30 August 2006

Also consider...

  • Last reviewed: 12 Jun 2019
  • Last updated: 9 Jun 2016