© 2026 Zoe. All rights reserved.
Zoe is a legal information platform. Always consult the Federal Register of Legislation for authoritative text.
Commonwealth legislation
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
These Regulations set out detailed administrative rules for brewers: which books and monthly accounts to keep, how deliveries and cart-notes must be recorded (in triplicate and consecutively), how duty stamps are bought and recorded, how refunds and returned or spoiled beer are handled, labelling requirements, sample procedures, and permits for transfers. They prescribe the exact forms in a Schedule and repeal earlier regulations. The rules mainly affect brewers, their agents and the Collector by allocating record‑keeping costs, procedural steps for refunds/transfers and points of Collector approval.
Want the full deep dive?
Zoe can write the in-depth analysis on top of the summary above: how it works, who it affects and what each part actually does.
Direct links to the current provisions in Beer Excise Regulations.
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
STATUTORY RULES.
1926. No. 184.
REGULATIONS UNDER THE BEER EXCISE ACT 1901-1923.
I, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, do hereby make the following Regulations under the Beer Excise Act 1901-1923, to come into operation forthwith.
Dated this seventeenth day of December, 1926.
STONEHAVEN,
Governor-General.
By His Excellency’s Command,
H. E. PRATTEN,
Minister of State for Trade and Customs.
Beer Excise Regulations.
Short Title.
Brewers’ Books.
Sec. 25.
(a) The Brewer’s Diary.
(b) The Brewer’s Delivery Book.
(c) The Brewer’s Monthly Account.
(d) The Cart-note Book.
(a) Brewer’s Diary.
Sec. 25.
(b) Brewer’s Delivery Book.
Sec. 25.
Verification of Entries.
Sec. 25.
C.17168.—Price 5d.
(c) Brewer’s Monthly Account.
Sec. 25.
The Brewer’s Monthly Account shall be in accordance with Form 3 and shall contain the particulars set out therein, and shall be sent by the brewer to the Collector on or before the seventh day of each month.
The Brewer’s Monthly Account and the particulars therein shall be verified by the declaration set out at the foot of the form.
(d) Cart-note Book.
Sec. 25.
The Cart-note Book shall be in accordance with Form 4, or to the like effect.
Cart-note Books shall be numbered consecutively, and shall be used in numerical order.
Each cart-note in a Cart-note Book shall bear a consecutive number and also the consecutive number of the Cart-note Book of which it forms part and shall be attached to a butt numbered in like manner.
Cart-notes shall be prepared in triplicate and the butts shall remain at the brewery and be there filed for such period as the Collector directs, at the end of which period they may be destroyed by permission of the Collector in the presence of an officer.
The Delivery Store Book.
Sec. 25.
Record to be kept by Brewer’s Agents.
13. (1) Where beer is received by a Brewer’s Agent for distribution or sale in bulk it shall be accompanied by a cart-note, and the agent shall keep a record showing as regards each vessel received the number and description of the vessel, the quantity of beer contained therein, the date of its receipt, the name and address of the person to whom it is delivered and the date of delivery.
(2) The agent shall, when requested by an officer to do so at any reasonable time, produce the record kept by him to the officer, and shall permit the officer to inspect it and to take a copy of or extract from it.
(3) An agent is a person who stores beer as agent for a brewer and delivers it to customers. The term “agent” does not include a carrier who merely collects a consignment and delivers it to the consignee or consignees to whom it has been consigned by the brewer.
Application for Refund of Duty.
Sec. 41.
Return of Beer to Brewery.
Provided that—
(a) in the case of bulk beer the stamp on the vessel remains intact when returned to the brewery and continues intact at the time of re-issue; and
(b) in the case of bottled beer, satisfactory evidence of the payment of duty on the original removal of the beer from the brewery is produced.
(2) Any beer returned to the brewery under the last preceding sub-regulation shall, until again removed, be kept in such part of the brewery as an officer requires and separate from the rest of the beer therein.
(3) A separate account of any beer returned and of any beer re-issued under sub-regulation (1) of this regulation shall be kept by the brewer. Daily entries shall be truly made by the brewer in the separate account which shall be verified every month as in the case of a brewer’s diary or, in exceptional circumstances, at such intervals as the Collector approves. The account shall, in respect of the re-issue of any beer, contain all the particulars required to be shown in the brewer’s delivery book as regards beer on its original removal. On re-issue the beer shall be accompanied by a cart-note.
(4) In the brewer’s diary and delivery book no entry shall be made or account taken of beer returned to the brewery under this regulation.
(5) Undelivered beer in loose bottles may also be returned to the brewery under this regulation.
Issue of Beer Duty Stamps to Brewers.
Sec. 26.
Brewers must apply for the purchase of stamps on forms supplied by the Collector.
The brewer, upon purchase of stamps shall be furnished with a receipt for the amount paid in accordance with Form 6 or otherwise, as the Collector may direct.
The brewer shall keep the receipt, and shall produce it upon the request of an officer.
Permits for the Transfer of Beer.
Sec. 29.
Permits for the transfer of beer may be issued by the Collector on the application of any brewer who has two breweries, both of which are occupied and carried on by him, or who has an approved delivery store for use in connexion with his brewery.
Permits shall be bound up in book form, and each permit shall be attached to a butt. The permit and butt shall be according to Form 7.
Permits shall only be used in accordance with sections 30 and 31 of the Beer Excise Act 1901-1923 and shall only be detached from their butts for the purpose of being so used.
Before beer is transferred from a brewery under permit the brewer shall write on the permit the date when it was affixed to a vessel or cart-note, and shall enter in the butt the date, the particulars of the vessel, or cart-note to which the permit was affixed, and the quantity of beer to be transferred under the permit.
Permits, and the books containing them, shall be the property of the Collector, and when all permits in a book have been issued, or the transfer of beer is discontinued, the book shall be forthwith returned to the Collector.
The brewer shall account, to the satisfaction of the Collector, for all permits issued to him.
Samples.
Sec. 57.
25. (1) A sample taken or obtained by an officer under the provisions of section 57 of the Beer Excise Act 1901-1923 shall be dealt with in the following manner:—
(a) the officer taking or obtaining the sample shall, in the presence of the person or the agent or servant of the person from whom the sample is taken or obtained, divide the sample into three equal parts and label or mark and securely seal each part; and
(b) the officer shall hand one part to the owner or his agent or servant, deliver for report another part to the analyst approved by the Collector, and retain the third part for further examination, if necessary.
(2) Delivery of the part to the analyst may be effected personally or by sending the part by registered post addressed to the analyst at his usual address, or in such other manner as the Collector approves.
(3) In the event of any dispute as to the identity of the part received by the analyst the burden of proof shall lie upon the person complaining.
(4) The production of a certificate of analysis of the part purporting to be signed by the analyst shall be sufficient evidence of the identity of the part and of the result of the analysis, without proof of the signature of the person purporting to have signed the certificate.
Declarations by Agents.
26. (1) Forms containing declarations may be signed by a duly authorized agent in cases where the principal is legally incapable of making a declaration.
(2) Any officer may require from any agent the production of his written authority from the principal for whom he claims to act, and in default of the production of such authority may refuse to recognise the agency.
(3) Any declaration made by an agent in pursuance of this regulation shall be held to have been made with the knowledge and consent of the principal, so that in any prosecution in respect of any declaration made by any such agent the principal shall be liable only to the pecuniary punishment provided by the Beer Excise Act 1901-1923 or these Regulations as if such declaration had been made by the principal.
(4) An authority under this regulation may be according to Form 8.
Marking and Labelling of Containers.
Secs.45, 46.
27. (1) No beer shall be removed from a brewery unless the name of the brewer, the place where the beer was made and the word “Australia” are legibly marked on each vessel or case or set forth in the label affixed to each bottle, and, in addition, in the case of bulk beer, a distinctive number is marked on each vessel:
Provided that when beer is brewed in South Australia or Western Australia and the name of the State appears on the vessel, case, or label in full, the word “Australia” need not be added.
(2) All labels for use on bottled beer must be approved by the Collector before being so used.
(3) The use of labels claiming or implying medicinal qualities in beer is not permitted.
Forms.
Repeal.
SCHEDULE.
______
Regs. Nos. 3, 5. Form 1.
Beer Excise Act 1901-1923.
BREWER’S DIARY.
Daily Entries at Brewery.
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="width:704pt; margin-bottom:0pt; border-collapse:collapse"><tbody><tr style="height:62.95pt"><td style="width:90.15pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-right:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:2pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">____</span></p></td><td rowspan="3" style="width:11.6pt; height:62.95pt; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; writing-mode:tb-rl; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle; -moz-transform:rotate(180deg); -ms-transform:rotate(180deg); overflow:hidden; transform:rotate(180deg); -webkit-transform:rotate(180deg)"><div style="height:62.95pt; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto; writing-mode:tb-rl; overflow:hidden"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Date.</span></p></div></td><td colspan="4" style="width:85.95pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Quantities of Material received into the Brewery.</span></p></td><td colspan="4" style="width:90.55pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Quantities of Material sold and used.</span></p></td><td style="width:41pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Estimated quantity in gals. of Beer made.</span></p></td><td colspan="4" style="width:63.1pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Beer Bottled.</span></p></td><td colspan="15" style="width:192.3pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-top:6pt; margin-bottom:3pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Quantity of Beer removed in—</span></p></td><td colspan="3" style="width:32.55pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Total quantity in gallons of Beer removed in—</span></p></td><td style="width:27.5pt; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Valued of Stamps Purchased.</span></p></td><td style="width:29.3pt; border-top:0.75pt solid #000000; border-left:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:2pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:middle"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:center; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Value of Stamps Used.</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:17pt"><td rowspan="2" style="width:90.15pt; border-right:0.75pt solid #000000; border-bottom:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:2pt; vertical-align:top"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif"></span></p></td><td rowspan="2" style="width:22.85pt; height:17pt; margin-left:auto; writing-mode:tb-rl; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-right:1.62pt; padding-left:1.62pt; vertical-align:top; -moz-transform:rotate(180deg); -ms-transform:rotate(180deg); overflow:hidden; transform:rotate(180deg); -webkit-transform:rotate(180deg)"><div style="height:17pt; margin-left:auto; writing-mode:tb-rl; overflow:hidden"><p style="margin-bottom:0pt; text-align:justify; line-height:normal; font-size:9pt"><span style="font-family:'Times New Roman', serif">Sugar.</span></p></div></td><td rowspan="2" style="width:27.45pt; height:17pt; margin-left:auto; writing-mode:tb-rl; border:0.75pt solid #000000; padding-ri
This is an opening excerpt, not the complete document.