Several concepts defined or used in the regulation require attention.

Administratively reviewable decision. Section 4 of the regulation lists applications under the Liquor Act that are prescribed for section 13A(1) of the principal Act. These are decisions that can be reviewed by the Authority (or a delegate) internally. The list covers major licence types (hotel, club, on‑premises for public entertainment venues, packaged liquor) but excludes small bar, restaurant, karaoke bar, and producer/wholesaler licences - those are instead covered by a separate delegation regime under section 6.

Delegated decision. Section 6 prescribes applications under section 36A(1)(d) of the Act. These are decisions that the Authority has delegated to a Public Service employee to make. The regulation carves out specific licence types (small bar, certain on‑premises for restaurants, karaoke bars, vessels, producer/wholesaler, and remote‑sale packaged liquor) and treats them as reviewable by the Authority itself. This bifurcation reflects a deliberate policy to route simpler or lower‑risk applications through delegates while keeping higher‑stakes applications or those requiring more discretion with the Authority.

Review applicant and original applicant. Section 7 introduces these defined terms. The original applicant is the person who first applied for the decision. The review applicant is the person seeking review under section 36A(2). This distinction matters for fee setting: if the review applicant was the original applicant, the fee equals the original application fee as specified in the Liquor Act regulations; if not, the fee is $100 (for Liquor Act decisions) or $500 (for other decisions). This structure creates a disincentive for third‑party objectors or competitors to lodge reviews, as they face a flat $100 fee rather than the potentially much higher original application fee.

Prescribed penalty notice offences. Section 9 designates three offences under the principal Act - sections 34(1), 34(4) and 34A(4) - as penalty notice offences, with a prescribed amount of $1,100. The source does not reveal the content of those offence provisions, but the effect is that a person alleged to have committed any of those offences can avoid prosecution by paying the penalty notice.

Prescribed persons and bodies. Schedule 1 lists entities to whom information may be divulged under section 17 of the Act. The list is extensive and includes not only NSW state agencies (local councils, health districts, racing bodies, Revenue NSW, SafeWork NSW, Transport for NSW) and federal regulators (ASIC, AUSTRAC, ATO, ACMA, APRA) but also gambling and liquor regulators from every other Australian state and territory, plus regulators from New Zealand, Great Britain, the United States (four states), Canada (four provinces), and Singapore. The breadth of this list means that information collected under the Act can flow across borders without further statutory authorisation, subject only to any conditions the Authority may impose.

The regulation directly affects any person or entity that applies for a liquor licence, gaming machine threshold increase, or extended trading authorisation under the relevant Acts in New South Wales. That includes hoteliers, club operators, public entertainment venue owners, packaged liquor retailers, small bar operators, restaurant owners, karaoke bar operators, catering services, vessel operators, and producer/wholesalers. It also affects any person who may wish to object to, or seek review of, a decision on such an application.

The regulation also affects Public Service employees who exercise delegated decision‑making powers under the Act. Section 6 and the delegation framework mean that certain decisions - such as granting a small bar licence or a restaurant on‑premises licence - can be made by a delegate rather than the full Authority. The regulation prescribes which of those delegated decisions are reviewable and the process for applying for review. This affects the workload and accountability of those delegates.

State and federal government agencies figure prominently. Schedule 1 names dozens of domestic bodies that may receive information: local councils, health districts, racing bodies (Greyhound Racing NSW, Harness Racing NSW, Racing NSW, Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission), revenue agencies, workplace safety regulators, land management agencies, transport authorities, and treasury. Federal bodies include ASIC, AUSTRAC, ATO, ACMA, APRA, and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. All these agencies can receive confidential information under the Act without the consent of the person to whom the information relates. This primarily affects licensees and applicants who expect their personal or commercial information to remain confidential - they have no right to prevent disclosure to the listed bodies.

International regulators are also affected. The regulation permits the Authority to share information with gambling regulators in New Zealand, Great Britain, four US states, four Canadian provinces, and Singapore. This facilitates cross‑border enforcement and intelligence sharing, particularly relevant for operators who hold licences in multiple jurisdictions or who have offshore connections. It also means that any information provided to the Authority could be passed to a foreign regulator without the subject’s knowledge or consent.

Finally, the regulation affects any person who may be issued a penalty notice for an offence against sections 34(1), 34(4) or 34A(4) of the principal Act. The amount of $1,100 is fixed by the regulation, not variable. This affects individuals, employees, and corporate officers who may face strict liability offences under those provisions.

The regulation imposes several procedural duties and confers specific rights, principally in relation to reviews and information sharing.

Right to apply for review of a delegated decision (s 7). Any person aggrieved by a delegated decision listed in section 6 may apply to the Authority for internal review. The application must be made within 28 days of the decision being made (if by the Secretary) or notice of the decision being published on the Department’s website (for other delegated decisions). This timeframe is relatively short and mirrors many administrative review regimes. The applicant must specify the grounds of review and, if the decision was provided in writing, attach a copy.

Duty to pay a review fee (s 7(1)(d)). Three fee categories apply. For a review of a Liquor Act delegated decision where the review applicant was the original applicant, the fee is equivalent to the original application fee as set under the Liquor Act regulations. This could be substantial - for example, a hotel licence application fee might run into thousands of dollars. For a review where the review applicant was not the original applicant, the fee is a flat $100. For any other review (i.e., not under the Liquor Act), the fee is $500. This fee structure creates a financial hurdle for original applicants seeking to challenge a delegate’s refusal or condition, but a relatively low hurdle for third party objectors. It also means the fee can change over time if the Liquor Act regulations are amended.

Duty to notify the original decision‑maker (s 7(2)). As soon as practicable after applying for a review, the review applicant must give a copy of the application to the original decision‑maker. This ensures the delegate is aware of the review and can participate or provide materials.

Duty to publish certain decisions (s 8). The Authority must publish a list of prescribed decisions on the Department’s website. These include: a decision of the Authority on a review under section 36A; decisions of the Secretary under section 81 of the Liquor Act; decisions of the Authority under sections 82, 84, 141, or 154 of the Liquor Act; decisions relating to full notification applications; and decisions on the applications listed in sections 4(c)-(e) and 6. The publication duty is ongoing and applies to each decision as it is made. There is no exemption for sensitive commercial information, though the principal Act may allow redaction in certain circumstances.

Right to receive information (s 5 and Schedule 1). The regulation confers a right or power on the Authority (and possibly the Secretary) to divulge information to the listed persons and bodies. This is not a duty to divulge, but a permission. The duty of confidentiality under section 17 of the Act is disapplied for the prescribed entities. The regulation does not impose any conditions on how the information must be handled by recipients.

Duty to comply with penalty notices (s 9). A person issued a penalty notice for an offence against sections 34(1), 34(4) or 34A(4) may pay the $1,100 penalty to avoid prosecution. There is no right to request a lower amount; the regulation sets a fixed sum.

Savings provision (s 10). Any act, matter, or thing done under the repealed 2016 regulation continues to have effect under the 2024 regulation. This preserves the validity of decisions, delegations, and information disclosures that occurred before 1 September 2024.

The regulation creates no new offences. Its penalty notice provisions merely prescribe which existing offences under the principal Act can be dealt with by way of a penalty notice and the amount payable. Specifically, section 9(1) identifies three offence provisions from the Act - sections 34(1), 34(4) and 34A(4) - as penalty notice offences. The prescribed penalty amount is $1,100 (section 9(2)). This amount is fixed; the regulation does not allow for different amounts for corporations versus individuals, nor does it provide for any escalation based on the gravity of the offence.

The source does not reveal the content of those three offence provisions. However, it is clear that the effect of the prescription is that an authorised officer may issue a penalty notice to any person alleged to have committed one of those offences. The person may then choose to pay the amount and incur no further liability, or decline to pay and face prosecution in court. The $1,100 amount is likely to be a significant deterrent for minor infractions but may be a modest cost of doing business for larger commercial operators if the offence is strict liability.

The enforcement consequences flow from the principal Act, not from this regulation. The regulation provides no guidance on who may issue penalty notices, what procedural steps are required before issue, or the evidentiary standards to be met. Those matters are governed by the Act (section 46) and any policies of the Authority or NSW Police.

It is also worth noting that the regulation does not create any new investigative powers, inspection rights, or search warrant procedures. Enforcement of the penalty notice regime depends on the underlying Act’s existing enforcement infrastructure.

The regulation’s information‑sharing provisions (Schedule 1) indirectly support enforcement by enabling the Authority to pass information to a wide range of regulators, both domestic and international. That information could be used by those bodies to initiate their own enforcement actions, but the regulation does not compel anyone to act on it.

The regulation operates as subordinate legislation under the Gaming and Liquor Administration Act 2007. Its provisions are expressly made for the purposes of specific sections of that Act: section 13A (administratively reviewable decisions), section 17 (disclosure of information), section 36A (review of delegated decisions), section 36C (publication of decisions), and section 46 (penalty notices). The regulation defines terms by reference to the Act and incorporates the Act’s definitions.

The regulation also cross‑references two other NSW Acts extensively: the Liquor Act 2007 and the Gaming Machines Act 2001. Section 4 lists applications under the Liquor Act, section 6 lists further Liquor Act applications, and section 7(1)(d) ties the review fee for certain decisions to the fee specified in the regulations under the Liquor Act. Section 4(d) references an application under section 34 of the Gaming Machines Act to increase a gaming machine threshold, and notes that it must be accompanied by a local impact assessment under section 35 of that Act. The regulation does not replicate any of the substantive criteria for those applications; it merely identifies them as reviewable decisions.

Schedule 1 interacts with the privacy and secrecy framework of many other NSW and Commonwealth laws. By prescribing bodies under section 17 of the principal Act, the regulation overrides any duty of confidentiality that would otherwise apply to the disclosure of information to those bodies. For example, information that might be subject to secrecy provisions under the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth) could be divulged to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) under this schedule. Similarly, information can be shared with AUSTRAC, ASIC, and ACMA without breaching the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) or the principal Act’s confidentiality provisions, but only if the disclosure is otherwise lawful.

The regulation also interacts with the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989, under which the 2016 regulation was repealed and replaced. The savings provision in section 10 ensures continuity and avoids any unintended invalidation of decisions or actions taken under the old regulation.

Internationally, the regulation enables information flow to foreign regulators. Those regulators may have their own legal frameworks governing use of that information, but the regulation does not impose any restrictions on onward disclosure or use. This means that information provided to, say, the Nevada Gaming Control Board could be used in enforcement or regulatory proceedings in the United States, subject to US law.

The regulation was made in 2024 and commenced on 1 September 2024. The source text includes two amendment notes: one at section 9 (penalty notices) and one at Schedule 1 (information disclosure). Both note amendments made by the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989 (no further detail is given) in 2026 (numbered 2026 (8), Sch 2). Specifically:

• Section 9 (penalty notices) was amended by 2026 (8), Sch 2[1]. The nature of the amendment is not specified; it may have adjusted the amount or the list of offence provisions.
• Schedule 1 was amended by 2026 (8), Sch 2[2] and [3]. Again, the content of the amendment is not described; it may have added or removed entities from the list.

The regulation’s own commencement section notes that it replaces the Gaming and Liquor Administration Regulation 2016, which was repealed by operation of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989, section 10(2) on 1 September 2024. The 2016 regulation’s content is not reproduced, but the savings provision (section 10) ensures that anything done under the old regulation continues to have effect.

No other amendment history is provided in the source. It is possible that the regulation has been amended further after 2026, but the source text does not reflect that. The reader should consult the current version on the NSW legislation website.

The amendment references use the shorthand “Am 2026 (8), Sch 2[1]” etc., which is standard NSW drafting style. The precise operative effect of those amendments is not discernible from this source text alone.

The source text does not mention any court cases, tribunal decisions, or other litigation that has considered this regulation. Because the regulation is procedural and deals with review rights, fees, publication, and information sharing, it is unlikely to be a standalone subject of litigation. However, decisions made under the regulation - such as a refusal to grant a review, the amount of a fee, or a decision to publish information - could be challenged in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) or the Supreme Court on judicial review grounds.

The regulation’s provisions may be relevant in proceedings concerning the validity of a licence decision or the admissibility of evidence obtained through information sharing under Schedule 1. For example, if the Authority relied on information obtained from a foreign regulator (like the Nevada Gaming Control Board) to refuse a licence, the licensee might challenge the lawfulness of the disclosure or the use of the information in proceedings.

It is also possible that the penalty notice amount of $1,100 could be challenged as excessive for minor offences, but that would more likely involve a constitutional challenge to the principal Act’s penalty notice provisions rather than the regulation itself.

Because the regulation came into force only in September 2024, and the source text includes amendments as late as 2026, there has been limited time for litigation to develop. Any significant cases are likely to be unreported or still pending. The user should conduct a separate search of NSW case law databases for the regulation’s provisions, bearing in mind that the regulation is new.

Several features of this regulation can catch out the unwary.

The 28‑day review window is short and starts from publication, not receipt. Under section 7(1)(a), the deadline for applying to the Authority for review of a delegated decision is 28 days from the day the decision was made (for Secretary decisions) or the day notice of the decision was published on the Department’s website (for other delegated decisions). Many applicants may assume the clock starts from when they receive written notice, but that is not the case for decisions made by delegates. The regulation does not require the Authority to provide individual notice. The 28‑day period can easily pass before an applicant realises a decision has been made.

The review fee can be extremely high for original applicants. If you were the original applicant for, say, a hotel licence, and the delegate refused it, you must pay a fee equal to the original application fee to seek review. That fee could be thousands of dollars. The regulation does not cap it or provide for a waiver. This is an unusual feature - typically, internal review fees are nominal. Here, the regulation creates a significant financial barrier that may deter original applicants from challenging adverse decisions.

Third‑party objectors pay only $100. By contrast, a person who was not the original applicant (e.g., a neighbour or competitor) pays only $100 for a review of the same type of delegated decision. This asymmetry may encourage busybody or strategic objectors. The regulation provides no safeguard for frivolous or vexatious applications beyond the general power of the Authority to dismiss them.

Information can be shared without notice or consent. Schedule 1 is broad. It includes agencies such as the ATO, ASIC, AUSTRAC, and foreign gambling regulators. There is no requirement to notify the person whose information is being disclosed or to obtain their consent. The Authority may divulge information proactively, including personal or commercially sensitive data. The regulation does not limit the purpose for which the recipient may use the information, nor does it impose confidentiality obligations on recipients.

The penalty notice amount is fixed, not scaled. The regulation prescribes $1,100 for any of the three offences, regardless of the circumstances. A first‑time minor breach draws the same fixed amount as a serious or repeat breach. There is no discount for early payment, no option to enter a compliance undertaking, and no escalation for corporate versus individual offenders. The amount may be low enough for some operators to treat as a routine cost of business.

The savings provision may preserve old decisions that would otherwise be invalid. Section 10 says that any act, matter, or thing that had effect under the old 2016 regulation continues to have effect under the new regulation. This includes delegations, decisions, and information disclosures. However, if the old regulation was itself invalid or the decision was ultra vires, the savings provision might not save it - but it could create confusion about what is still effective.

Compliance with this regulation is largely procedural and depends on what role you play.

If you are an applicant for a liquor licence or gaming machine threshold increase:

• Check whether your application falls into one of the categories listed in section 4 or section 6. If it does, you have the right to seek review if the decision is adverse. The category determines whether review is by the Authority or by a delegate.
• If the decision is made by a delegate (under section 6), note the 28‑day deadline from publication of the decision on the Department’s website. Do not rely on receiving a letter. Monitor the website or set alerts.
• If you wish to seek review, prepare your application within the deadline including the grounds for review and a copy of the decision if available. Pay the correct fee - check the Liquor Act regulations to determine the original application fee if you were the original applicant; otherwise pay $100 or $500 as applicable.
• Provide a copy of the review application to the original decision‑maker as soon as practicable.

If you are a third party (competitor, neighbour, community group) who wishes to object to a delegated decision:

• You may apply for review under section 7 within the same 28‑day window. The fee is $100 for a Liquor Act delegated decision or $500 for other decisions. You must specify grounds. You do not need the original applicant’s consent.
• Be aware that the fee is a flat $100, much lower than what the original applicant must pay. This may make review more accessible to you but also increases the risk of tactical reviews.

If you are a licence holder or applicant concerned about information confidentiality:

• Understand that the Authority may share your information with any of the bodies listed in Schedule 1 without notifying you. That includes domestic and international regulators. You have no right under this regulation to object or to restrict disclosure.
• If you are particularly sensitive about information being shared with a foreign regulator (e.g., Nevada, Singapore), consider raising that with the Authority at the time of application and asking for conditions on disclosure, though the regulation does not compel the Authority to agree.

If you are a Public Service employee exercising delegated decision‑making:

• Familiarise yourself with the list of reviewable delegated decisions in section 6. Ensure that any decision you make on those applications is made with proper delegation and is published in accordance with section 8 if required.
• When you notify the applicant of your decision, be aware that the 28‑day review period runs from publication, not your notification. The Department should publish the decision promptly.

If you are a person subject to a penalty notice under sections 34(1), 34(4) or 34A(4):

• Pay the $1,100 penalty notice amount within the time specified on the notice to avoid prosecution. The amount is fixed; do not negotiate. If you believe the notice was issued incorrectly, you may decline to pay and contest the matter in court.

If you are an agency listed in Schedule 1:

• You may receive information from the Authority under section 5. The regulation does not impose conditions on how you use that information, but applicable federal or state secrecy laws may still restrict your use. Ensure you have lawful authority to receive and use the information.

Overall, the key compliance steps are: monitor publication, act within 28 days, pay the correct fee, and assume your information will be shared broadly.