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Local council objections to liquor licence applications

Local councils can object to the grant of a liquor licence application or the variation of an existing one.

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By law, we must send the relevant local council most liquor licence applications for comment.

Councils then have 30 days to object.

The local council can object if it believes granting the application would:

Victoria Police and community members can also make an objection.

Applications we send to councils

By law, we must send (refer) these applications to the relevant local council for comment:

In addition, we can send other applications to council if we think it’s needed.

For example, we may refer an application for a major event licence, or temporary limited licence, if the event will impact the local community.

We are not required to refer licence transfer applications.

Documents we send

We send these documents to council’s nominated email address:

To update council’s nominated email address, email us at contact@liquor.vic.gov.au.

Before council objects

We can only consider objections as required under the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998.

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  1. 1Check we can consider the objection

Councils can object to a liquor licence application if they believe granting the licence would:

  1. 2Check the time limit

Councils have 30 days to object, from the date the public notice was first displayed.

If we do not hear from council by then, we will continue to progress the application.

Requests for more time

Council can ask for more time to submit their objection.

To do this, email contact@liquor.vic.gov.au before the due date and say why more time is needed.

We can only extend the time limit by a week or 2.

Late objections may not be accepted.

  1. 3Gather information and evidence

Council will need to provide information and evidence that helps us understand the objection.

Amenity concerns

Examples of amenity concerns include:

Harm concerns

Councils can object to a packaged liquor licence application for reasons of amenity or alcohol-related harm.

If objecting for reasons of harm, council must outline how the licence grant would cause:

How council makes an objection

  1. To object, councils complete the form in the objection kit:

Local council liquor licence objection kit PDF 287.77 KB (opens in a new window)

  1. They then email the form to contact@liquor.vic.gov.au.

After council objects

We will let council know if we have accepted their reasons for objecting.

We usually do this within a week of getting the objection form.

If we accept the objection, we will consider it as part of the application assessment.

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All objections are treated as public documents.

We share council’s objection and all details, including contact details, with the applicant.

We then give the applicant a chance to respond to us about the concerns.

For example, if the concern is about excessively loud music, the applicant may give us information on how they will reduce this noise.

We will email council to let them know the outcome.

We also send a statement of reasons explaining why the application was granted or refused.

Councils can appeal the:

When to appeal

The appeal must be made within 28 days of receiving the licence decision.

How to appeal

  1. Complete the internal review application form. It has details on the reasons for appeals we can accept.

Internal review application PDF 1.53 MB (opens in a new window)

  1. Email the form to secretariat@liquor.vic.gov.au
  2. We will email council with next steps. This may take a few weeks.

Planning permits no longer required

A planning permit is no longer required for the sale and consumption of liquor.

This change does not affect:

Planning permits and liquor licences often have different conditions. Licensees must comply with both:

Applications to vary a licence or relocate

Applicants for variations or relocations are still required to provide evidence that their application does not breach local planning schemes.

Applicants need to provide us with either:

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Updated 16 December 2025

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