Alcohol reforms in the Northern Territory (NT) have included a rewrite of the Northern Territory of Australia Liquor Act 1978 (the Act).
FARE and the People’s Alcohol Action Coalition (PAAC) welcomed the opportunity to provide comment on the Exposure Draft of the Liquor Bill 2019 (the Bill) in April. A new strong Liquor Act is a pivotal piece of legislation to continue stopping the harms from alcohol and to successfully implement the Riley Review reforms in the NT.
The Exposure Draft provided a good foundation for the new Liquor Bill, but some areas required further attention. FARE and PAAC provided 50 recommendations in their joint submission to strengthen the Bill and provide a strong regulatory framework for the future.
Recommendations
- Develop a fund to support communities engaging with NT Liquor Commission hearings associated with objections, where needed.
- Amend the RBL model to require licensees to pay the fee for each licence authority held so that the total fee is the sum of the fees for each type of authority.
- Extend the RBL model to ensure that all licence types that trade past midnight pay the late night authority fee. The late-night authority fee must be commensurate with the risk associated with late trading hours.
- Amend the RBL model to remove any multipliers used to calculate fees that would reduce the loading below the base fee or a fee applicable to a risk factor included in the model.
- Remove the ability to apply discounts to the base fee in the RBL model.
- Amend the proposed RBL model to ensure that not only do breaches stay with a venue following the transfer or sale of a licence, but that they are linked to licensees should the licensee seek to apply for additional licences or to sell or transfer the licence associated with the breaches.
- Increase the percentage value for breaches of licence conditions in the RBL model.
- Estimate a tier multiplier for the first year of operation by basing calculations on available information such as floor size, patron capacity, projected sales for the first year, and volume sold by similar businesses.
- Incorporate online retailers into the RBL scheme proportionate to their share of the administrative, health and social costs associated with the sale of alcohol in the NT.
- Introduce additional loadings to licence fees, based on patron capacity and location of venue.
