The Act specifies timelines, deadlines and non-working days that can impact on filing and assessment of alcohol licensing applications. The Act also specifies sacrosanct days on which the sale of alcohol is restricted.
The Act defines a working day as a day that is not:
What this means for licensees:
Porirua Council's Local Alcohol Policy determines the maximum trading hours for licensees, this differs for on-licence, club licence and off-licence premises. Special licences, remote sales, hotels and particular clubs (such as RSA) may have exceptions to the maximum trading hours. Check out the Local Alcohol Policy for more information.
Porirua City's policy for gaming machines and TAB venues comes under the Gambling Act 2003 and Racing Act 2003 and controls the location of new class 4 gambling venues and stand-alone New Zealand Racing Board venues. The policy does not cover any gaming machines or TAB venues licensed on or before 17 October 2011, unless the venue licence has not been held for the site for more than six months, and does not cover casinos.
You can read more about the Gaming Machines and TAB policy on our website.
Our Smokefree policy extends the number of public places that are Smokefree and Vapefree in Porirua and also seeks to denormalise smoking/vaping for children and young people by reducing its visibility in public places. It is an educative policy and will not be enforced by fines.
You can read more about the Smokefree Outdoor Public Places Policy on our website.
The Psychoactive Substances Act 2013 puts substantial controls around who can sell, supply and purchase approved products. Porirua City’s policy restricts retail premises selling psychoactive substances to areas including: Hagley Street (northern end), part of Cobham Court and Kilkerran Place.
You can read more about the Psychoactive substances policy on our website.
The Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 sets out a range of criteria that any licence application of any sort (including renewals) must be assessed against. It is important that you have the appropriate systems in place and regular staff training to meet the criteria.
Although there is a lack of mandatory requirements for staff training and refresher training, it is important that the manager, licensees and their staff "know the law" and they can implement it in the workplace.
Some examples of systems you could have in operation include:
Some suggested training tools for your staff include:
Designation set the age limits for people allowed at your licensed premises must be explained in your original application. There are three types of designations:
The legal drinking age in New Zealand is 18 years of age. It is recommended to ask for photographic proof of age for anyone on your premises and/or purchasing alcohol that looks under 25 years of age. Below is a list of the approved forms of ID under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012:
Businesses with on-licences, club licences or special licences, must make sure that food is easily available whenever they are open and selling alcohol. The range and style of food must be similar to the menu submitted as part of the original licence application.
There are several minimum standards for an alcohol licence:
Alcohol Licensing Inspectors will check menus at premises whenever licences are due for renewal. When an inspector calls, they may ask questions such as:
All licences are required to comply with the requirements of the noise provisions under the Resource Management Act. Noise from premises must be below the level prescribed in the Council's District Plan and any resource consent conditions relating to noise for that site and use. These often relate to keeping windows and doors closed and limits the use of outside speakers or amplified entertainment.
Once operating, any noise complaints may result in a noise control officer attending and issuing an excessive noise direction for the noise to be reduced immediately. Non-compliance with an Excessive Noise Direction may result in an infringement notice.
The Porirua Council’s Alcohol Control Bylaw 2018 imposes the following prohibitions on the drinking, possession and carriage of alcohol:
You can read the Alcohol Control Bylaw 2018 further and view the alcohol ban maps on our website.
All alcohol advertising and promotion must comply with the principles and guidelines in the Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol and the Advertising Standards Code 2018.
The Alcohol Advertising and Promotions Code covers advertising and promotion of all pre-packaged and bulk alcoholic drinks which are advertised and promoted for sale and consumption in New Zealand. The Code is designed to ensure that alcohol advertising and promotion is consistent with the need for responsibility and moderation in merchandising and consumption, and does not encourage consumption by minors. Particular care is also required in the advertising and promotion of products likely to have strong appeal to young adults over the legal purchase age.
It is the responsibility of all companies and enterprises connected with the alcoholic drinks industry in New Zealand to comply with this Code.
You can read the Code for Advertising and Promotion of Alcohol in full, on the Advertising Standards Authority website.
There are several liquor licensing regulatory agencies that oversee the processing of applications and monitoring premises and managers.
ARLA: The Alcohol and Regulatory Licensing Authority (ARLA), Te Mana Waeture Take Waipiro, is an independent Tribunal established by the Act and is comprised of up to three district court judges and any number of other members. ARLA's role is to consider and determine applications made by the Licensing Inspectors and the Police for the variation, suspension, or cancellation of liquor licences and manager’s certificates. ARLA also considers and determines appeals against decisions made by the DLC and appeals against elements of provisional local alcohol policies developed by local councils. The DLC may also refer applications for licences and manager’s certificates for consideration and determination to ARLA.
The DLC: The District Licensing Committee is a Commission of Inquiry and also acts to provide information to ARLA. The DLC is made up of a chair and at least two members. The chair of a DLC can either be an elected member of the council or a commissioner appointed by the chief executive on the recommendation of the council. At Porirua City Council, the Chair of DLC is an elected member of the council. Other members of the DLC are eligible people (either community members or elected members of the council) who have experience relevant to alcohol licensing matters. Functions of the DLC include:
Fire and Emergency New Zealand: On occasion other inspectors or officers of the local council or regulatory agencies will visit premises, including the health inspector, fire safety officer, dangerous goods inspector, health and safety officer, smokefree officer, gaming compliance inspector, and building safety officer. Functions of Fire and Emergency include:
Licensing Inspector: Have the power of entry to any licensed premises at any reasonable time and may require seeing the licence or any records to establish compliance with the Act. Functions of the Licensing Inspector include:
Medical Officer of Health: The Medical Officer of Health (MOH) has a statutory reporting role with functions that include:
Police: Have power of entry to any licensed premises at any reasonable time and may require seeing the licence or any records required to establish compliance with the Act (similar to the functions of an inspector). They may also seize alcohol and containers without a warrant for the purposes of analysis. Their functions include:
