Liquor Control Act 1988

• All vendors of liquor in Western Australia: hotels, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, clubs, producers, wholesalers and liquor stores.
• Applicants for licences and their principals, nominees and managers.
• Employees and agents of licensees, who may personally commit offences under the Act.
• Juveniles and other persons seeking access to licensed premises or purchasing alcohol.
• Local governments, which have consultation roles in the licensing process and functions under Part 6.
• Police and authorised officers, who enforce the Act.
• Persons subject to prohibition orders, exclusion orders or banned drinker orders.
• Third parties whose interests may be affected by licensing decisions, including neighbouring residents who may object to applications.

Part 3: Licences and permits

Requirement to hold a licence (section 109): No person may sell liquor unless they hold a licence or permit authorising the sale, are an employee or agent acting lawfully within that authority, or are otherwise exempt. Selling without a licence carries a maximum fine of $50,000 and two years' imprisonment (minimum fine: $2,000).

Licence conditions and requirements (section 37): Every licence is subject to the conditions imposed by the licensing authority, the general conditions applicable to the licence type, and any additional conditions imposed on grant. Licensees must not breach conditions.

Notification of conviction (section 37A): A licensee must inform the Director if they or the approved manager is convicted of certain offences.

Applications to be in the public interest (section 38): Certain applications must be refused unless the licensing authority is satisfied the grant would be in the public interest, having regard to the primary and secondary objects of the Act.

Approved managers: Licensees must ensure that a person who is licensed as a manager under the Act is present and in charge of the premises during trading hours.

Part 4: Conduct of business

Permitted hours (section 97): Each licence type has default permitted trading hours. Extended trading permits (Part 3, Division 4, section 60) allow trading beyond those hours for approved purposes. Trading outside permitted hours is an offence (section 111, maximum fine: $15,000 for a licensee or manager).

Drunk and disruptive persons (section 115): A licensee commits an offence if the licensee permits drunkenness or violent, quarrelsome, disorderly or indecent behaviour on the premises (maximum fine: $15,000 for the licensee). The licensee or an authorised person must refuse entry to, or remove, a person who is drunk, behaving offensively, or otherwise described in section 115(4a).

No service to drunk persons (section 115(2)): Selling or supplying liquor to a person who is drunk is an offence. The penalty varies: for a licensee or manager, a maximum fine of $15,000; for an employee or agent, $6,000. A defence is available where the employee was instructed by a person in authority to make the sale (section 115(3)).

Juveniles (Division 9): It is an offence to permit a person under 18 (a juvenile) to be on licensed premises except in circumstances prescribed by the Act (section 120 and 121). Supplying a juvenile with alcohol is an offence (section 122A). Penalties for offences involving juveniles are substantial.

Responsible practices training (Division 3A): The regulations may prescribe training programs in responsible service of alcohol, and a licensee may be required to ensure that employees have completed such training. A register of responsible practices training must be maintained (section 103AA).

Incident register (section 116A): A licensee must maintain a register recording prescribed incidents that occur on or in relation to the premises.

Drinking water (section 115A): Certain licensed premises must provide drinking water free of charge.

Parts 5A, 5AA, 5B, 5C: Public safety measures

Prohibition orders (Part 5A): The Commissioner of Police may apply to the Director for a prohibition order banning a person from all or specified classes of licensed premises, where the person has been convicted of or charged with offences involving violence or disorder in connection with licensed premises (sections 152B to 152E et seq.).

Protected entertainment precinct exclusion orders (Part 5AA): A protected entertainment precinct is a defined area declared by the Minister. Police may issue short-term exclusion orders (up to 24 hours) barring a person from the precinct for prescribed conduct. Extended exclusion orders (up to 2 years) may be applied for through the Director (sections 152NB to 152T).

Liquor restricted premises (Part 5B): The Director may declare premises as liquor restricted premises, making it an offence to bring or consume alcohol on those premises without approval.

Banned drinker orders (Part 5C): In designated banned drinker areas, police officers may make a banned drinker order against a person for prescribed reasons (section 152YE). Orders may also be self-imposed by the person (section 152YL) or applied for by certain professionals such as health workers or child protection officers (section 152YQ). Orders are registered in a banned drinkers register maintained by the Director (section 152ZH). It is an offence for a retailer who sells packaged liquor in a banned drinker area to sell packaged liquor to a banned drinker (section 152ZA, penalty: $10,000 for a licensee). Retailers must use the Director's ID system to identify banned drinkers before making sales (section 152ZI).

Licensing authority powers (section 33): When deciding an application, the licensing authority may grant the application unconditionally, grant it with conditions, refuse it or deal with it otherwise as permitted. The authority must have regard to the primary and secondary objects of the Act.

Director's information powers (section 148, 149, 150): The Director may require information from licensees, access premises and records, and use information obtained for the purposes of performing licensing functions.

Police powers (section 114, 155): Police may close licensed premises for up to 72 hours where serious disorder occurs or is imminently likely. Police may enter and search licensed premises, seize liquor and other items, and arrest persons for prescribed offences.

Authorised officer powers (section 153, 154): Authorised officers (inspectors appointed by the Director) may enter licensed premises during business hours, inspect records, take samples and investigate compliance.

Disciplinary powers (sections 95, 96): The licensing authority may take disciplinary action against a licensee on various grounds including conviction for certain offences, breach of conditions, carrying on business while unlicensed, allowing drunkenness, or acting in a manner prejudicial to the public interest. Disciplinary action ranges from a formal warning, fine, variation of conditions and licence suspension through to cancellation of the licence.

Suspension in the public interest (section 91): The licensing authority may suspend a licence where it considers suspension is necessary in the public interest, even without a full disciplinary hearing.

| Offence | Maximum penalty | |---|---| | Selling liquor without a licence (s 109(1)) | $50,000 fine and 2 years imprisonment (minimum: $2,000) | | Carrying liquor for sale without licence (s 109(3)) | $25,000 fine (minimum: $1,000) | | Allowing drunkenness/disorder on premises: licensee (s 115(1)) | $15,000 fine | | Selling to a drunk person: licensee or manager (s 115(2)) | $15,000 fine | | Selling to a drunk person: employee or agent (s 115(2)) | $6,000 fine | | Juvenile offences: general (s 121) | Varies; significant fines | | Trading outside permitted hours: licensee or manager (s 111) | $15,000 fine | | Selling packaged liquor to banned drinker in banned drinker area (s 152ZA) | $10,000 fine | | Failure to comply with licensing authority requirements (s 158) | Prescribed penalty | | General penalty (s 166) | As prescribed |

Infringement notices (section 167): Police and authorised officers may issue infringement notices for prescribed offences, allowing payment of a modified penalty without prosecution.

Corporate liability (section 164): Where an offence is committed by a body corporate, every officer of the body corporate who was in a position to influence the conduct and who failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the offence also commits an offence. Partnerships are treated similarly.

Licensee liability for employees (section 165): A licensee is liable for the acts and omissions of employees and agents in relation to the business under the licence to the same extent as if the licensee had personally done or omitted to do the act.

Forfeiture (section 172A): On conviction, or on payment of a modified penalty, liquor and other items used in connection with the offence may be forfeited.

• Duration of licences (section 32): Licences continue until surrendered, cancelled or transferred, subject to payment of annual fees. Extended trading permits and occasional licences are for specified periods or occasions.
• Applications (sections 66-76): Applications must be in the prescribed form, advertised, and subject to the objection and intervention process. The Director and Commission must consider objections before deciding. There is no fixed statutory timeframe for decisions, but the Act imposes procedural requirements that govern processing.
• Review of Director's decisions (section 25): An interested person may apply for review of a Director's decision by the Commission within 7 days after being given notice of the decision (or such further time as the Commission allows).
• Appeals from Commission (section 28): A party may appeal the Commission's decision to the Supreme Court on a question of law.

• Gaming and Wagering Commission Act 1987 (WA): Section 115(1)(c) of the Liquor Control Act references section 110(1) of the Gaming and Wagering Commission Act; gaming or betting activities on licensed premises that contravene that Act also constitute an offence under the Liquor Control Act.
• Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and Competition Code: Section 174B of the Act provides that liquor accords (voluntary agreements between licensees about industry self-regulation) are authorised for the purposes of the competition law.
• Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (WA): Exemptions from licensing requirements for medical and pharmaceutical professionals are cross-referenced to the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law.
• Government Railways Act 1904 (WA): The Act does not apply to liquor sold by the Public Transport Authority under that Act.
• Criminal and Found Property Disposal Act 2006 (WA): Section 174A provides for the application of that Act to property seized under the Liquor Control Act.
• State Administrative Tribunal: Under section 25A, the Commission may refer an application for review of a Director's decision to the State Administrative Tribunal.

Licensee liability for employee misconduct extends to legal responsibility: Section 165 makes a licensee liable for the acts and omissions of employees and agents as though the licensee had done them personally. A licensee cannot escape liability for a staff member selling to a minor or a drunk person by claiming they were unaware. Rigorous staff training and supervision are essential.

"Public interest" is a threshold, not a consideration: For applications that trigger section 38, the licensing authority must refuse the application unless satisfied it is in the public interest. Unlike the balancing of primary and secondary objects in section 5, public interest satisfaction is a threshold requirement. Where an applicant cannot demonstrate public interest, no balancing occurs.

Banned drinker register obligations exist in banned drinker areas only: The obligation to check the banned drinkers register before selling packaged liquor applies only in designated banned drinker areas (section 152ZF). In areas not designated, the obligation does not apply. Retailers in designated areas who fail to use the ID system risk prosecution.

Condition variations require an application: Under section 63, certain licence conditions cannot be varied or cancelled without a full application process; unilateral variation by the licensee is not permitted. Where a condition is imposed on grant and the licensee later seeks to remove it, a formal application is required.

Non-compliance with extended trading permit conditions is a separate offence: An extended trading permit authorises trading beyond ordinary hours on its own terms. Any departure from those terms, even where the licence itself authorises trading during the ordinary hours, is a breach of the permit conditions.

Juvenile presence rules have detailed exceptions: Section 120 sets out a complex set of exceptions to the general prohibition on juveniles being on licensed premises. Each exception has its own conditions (meal service, accommodation, supervised by parent or guardian in certain areas, approved entertainment). The detail matters: relying on the wrong exception can expose the licensee to prosecution.

Example 1 (new liquor store): An investor wants to open a liquor store in a metropolitan suburb. The investor must apply for a liquor store licence (section 47). The licensing authority must consider whether the grant is in the public interest (section 38). The application must be advertised, neighbours and local government may object, and the authority must consider those objections before deciding (sections 67-74). If the store is to be located near a petrol station, section 65A prohibits the petrol station from being established on the same premises.

Example 2 (intoxicated patron): A patron at a hotel bar shows signs of intoxication. The bar staff must refuse to supply further liquor to the patron (section 115(2)). An authorised person may require the patron to leave (section 115(4)). If the patron refuses to leave, the authorised person may remove them using reasonable force. If the licensee permitted the drunkenness to continue, both the licensee and the employee involved commit an offence.

Example 3 (prohibited entertainment precinct): A declared protected entertainment precinct operates in a city nightlife district. A person is observed fighting with another patron outside a licensed venue in the precinct. Police issue a short-term exclusion order barring the person from the precinct for 24 hours (Part 5AA, Division 2). If the person re-enters the precinct during the exclusion period, they commit an offence.

Example 4 (banned drinker area): A liquor store located in a designated banned drinker area must use the Director's ID system (section 152ZI) before selling packaged liquor. When a customer presents, the system indicates the customer is a banned drinker. The licensee must not sell packaged liquor to that person (section 152ZA). If the licensee sells despite the indication, the maximum fine is $10,000.