Venues
Cover for cocktail bars, wine bars and small bars
Cocktail bars, wine bars and laneway small bars can all get quotes through our brokers, wherever they trade in Australia.
01
How many patrons a small bar can hold
New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia each have a licence made for small venues.
- 1
New South Wales
A small bar licence is for a bar holding at most 120 patrons, and gaming machines aren't allowed. Over 120, you need a hotel or general bar licence instead.
- 2
South Australia
The small venue licence only covers the Adelaide CBD, and it also caps patrons at 120.
- 3
Western Australia
Small bars that hold 120 people can now apply to raise the limit to 150.
02
What a New South Wales small bar signs up to
The licence comes with conditions on opening hours, water, food and records. New South Wales law also requires responsible service of alcohol (RSA) training.
- 01
Trading hours
Standard hours run from 10am to midnight. You can apply for two more hours, until 2am, if your development consent, meaning the planning approval for the premises, allows it.
- 02
Water and food
Free drinking water for everyone, and something to eat whenever alcohol is on sale.
- 03
Incident register
Once you're approved to trade past midnight, you have to keep an incident register, a log of the incidents at your bar.
- 04
Responsible service of alcohol
The rule covers anyone who serves or sells alcohol, volunteers and security staff included. If your RSA training is more than five years old, you have to do the full course again.
03
Glass bans in Queensland
In Queensland, a single glassing, meaning an assault with a glass, can be enough for the regulator to declare a venue high risk. A high-risk venue must get rid of its regular glass, meaning anything not toughened or tempered, from tumblers and jugs to bottles and stubbies.
If a patron is cut by glass and says the bar was at fault, that claim would go to public liability insurance.
04
Covers a bar can be quoted for
Public liability, for when a patron slips on spilt beer or falls from an unstable stool and says the bar was at fault.
The back bar, stools and lights you had installed, plus the spirits and wine on the shelves.
Cash taken in a burglary, and new glass if the front window gets smashed.
A repair or a new machine when one breaks down.
Money you'd have taken over the bar, and some bills that still need paying, while storm or fire damage is fixed.
Questions bar owners ask
business.gov.au says it's compulsory for some jobs in parts of Australia. The state and territory liquor licence pages we checked don't list it as a requirement. If insurance comes up in your lease or licence, show your broker that part.
Yes. Our brokers look after licensed venues Australia-wide, Melbourne included, and Victoria is one of the choices on the form.