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Management plans can help reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm at your venue or event.

What is a management plan?

A management plan is a detailed document that you create as the licence or permit holder.

It outlines how you run your business or event to minimise alcohol-related harm and meet your licence obligations.

We may ask you to submit one or more of these plans when you apply for a licence or make changes to one:

venue management plan
alcohol management plan
event management plan
gender-based violence prevention and response plan.

Why you need one

For some licence types, we require you to have one or more management plans if you want to apply for a licence or change a licence.

For others it is optional but encouraged.

If you are required to have a plan, you must keep it up-to-date and have it at your venue or location in case liquor inspectors or Victoria Police ask to see it.

What to include

The details you include in your management plan will depend on your venue type, location, trading hours, entertainment provided and many other risk factors.

For this reason, we are flexible about what you need to include.

Your policies and procedures should reflect what you actually do. Make sure your staff are familiar with them and use them as a guide.

Venue management plan

A venue management plan details how you manage your venue, security and customers. It’s often required for late-night licences or live music venues.

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General details

Include these general details about your venue:

Licence details – type of liquor licence.
Licence conditions – how you are managing all the conditions outlined on your licence.
Trading hours – the hours your venue will operate.
Signage – which signs you are required to display and where you are displaying them.
Capacity – the maximum number of customers allowed at your venue.
Security arrangements – number of security staff or crowd controllers and their hours of operation.
Lighting – inside and outside the venue, for safety and security.
Bottle and general waste disposal – storage and removal arrangements, including pick-up times.
Local contacts – details for services such as Cohealth, police, emergency services and taxis.

Policies and procedures

If you don’t already have them, consider creating these important policies and procedures:

Responsible service of alcohol – principles such as providing free drinking water, managing drunk or disorderly customers or restricting drink types after midnight.
Minors – how you will prevent and manage under 18s.
Drugs and weapons – preventing and responding to incidents.
Gender-based violence – preventing and managing incidents (see guidance below).
Theft and damage – dealing with property loss or damage.
Drink spiking – preventing and managing incidents.
First aid – staff training and the location and maintenance of first aid kits.
Entry and exit procedures – how you manage customers entering and leaving, including pass-out arrangements (if any) and helping customers leave safely, including nearby public transport or taxi options.
Special events – details of regular events and how you will manage them.
Emergency evacuation – procedures for safely evacuating the venue.
Noise control – measures to reduce noise (for example, soundproofing, keeping doors and windows closed when bands play, enclosing generators in outdoor areas).
Complaints process – how you will handle complaints from neighbours or nearby businesses (for example, keeping a complaints register).

Alcohol management plan

If you sell packaged liquor in a shop, venue or online, we encourage you to have an alcohol management plan.

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General details

Include these general details about your location:

Liquor details – the type of alcohol you supply.
Licence conditions – how you are managing all the conditions outlined on your licence.
Trading hours – when your shop or online business operates.
Signage – which signs you are required to display and where you are displaying them.
Safety measures – such as lighting or CCTV (if relevant).
Staff training – ongoing training in your policies and procedures.
Local contacts – details for police, emergency services and Directline.

Policies and procedures

If you don’t already have them, consider creating these important policies and procedures:

Responsible service of alcohol – principles such as providing free drinking water, managing drunk or disorderly customers or restricting drink types after midnight.
Refusal of service – when and how service will be refused.
ID checks – proof of age requirements and acceptable forms of ID.
Minors – how you will prevent and manage under 18s.
Secondary supply – preventing adults from supplying alcohol to minors.
Self-exclusion – any policies you have in place.
High turnover periods – managing risks during busy times.
Incident register – keeping records of incidents at your venue.

Promotions or discounts

Your alcohol management plan should also outline:

Advertising and promotions – how you will promote alcohol responsibly.
Discounts and specials – the types of promotions you intend to run (for example, 2-for-1 deals, bulk buys, half-price sales).
Risk management – how you will manage risks linked to promotions and discounts.

Alcohol delivery

If you deliver alcohol, your plan should include:

Delivery hours – no alcohol deliveries after 11 pm on any day.
Attended deliveries – how these will be managed.
Unattended deliveries – procedures for safe and compliant drop-offs.
Driver instructions – checking ID, how to manage drunk customers and refuse delivery if needed.
Failed deliveries – how you will handle, record and report on a failed delivery.
Resources to support alcohol delivery – for example, log sheets and labels.

Event management plan

An event management plan outlines how you will run your event responsibly.

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General details

Include these general details:

Event details – name, location, trading hours, maximum patron capacity.
Contact details – event manager and relevant staff.
Alcohol supply – what will be served and how it will be supplied.
Permissions – any approvals required, such as Council permits.
Noise control – how you will reduce excessive noise, for example with barriers or speaker locations.
Security and crowd control – number of security guards, their hours and roles.
Lighting – on and outside the venue for security and safety.
Bottle and general waste disposal – storage and removal arrangements, including pick-up times.
Public services contacts – Cohealth, police, emergency services, taxis.

Policies and procedures

If you don’t already have them, consider creating these important policies and procedures:

Set up and pack up – procedures for how you’ll manage the start and end of the event.
Responsible service of alcohol – principles such as providing free drinking water, managing drunk or disorderly customers or restricting drink types after midnight.
Minors – how you will prevent and manage under 18s.
Drugs and weapons – preventing and responding to incidents.
Gender-based violence – preventing and managing incidents (see guidance below).
Drink spiking – preventing and managing incidents.
Theft and damage – dealing with property loss or damage.
First aid – staff training and the location and maintenance of first aid kits.
Entry and exit procedures – how you manage customers entering and leaving, including pass-out arrangements (if any), ticketing or wrist band arrangements.
Emergency evacuation – procedures for safely evacuating the venue.
Noise control – measures to reduce noise (for example, soundproofing, keeping doors and windows closed when bands play, enclosing generators in outdoor areas).
Customers leaving the event – helping customers leave safely, including nearby public transport and taxi options,.
Complaints process – how you will handle complaints received during or after the event.

Gender-based violence prevention and response plan

Violence against someone based on their gender is unacceptable.

A gender-based violence prevention and response plan helps you manage risks by making sure you and your staff have the right measures in place.

We encourage all venues to have a plan, as gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere.

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What to include in the plan

Include in your plan the actions you will take to prevent and reduce gender-based violence.

For example, you could include:

violence prevention and response procedures and how you train staff in them during induction and ongoing training
drink spiking and drug management policies
how you monitor hidden or dimly-lit areas to ensure customer and staff safety, for example, with surveillance or CCTV
using code words so customers can discreetly ask for help (read about Ask for Angela).
display posters encouraging customers to seek support (read about Promoting 1800RESPECT).

Resources to help develop your plan

You can use our optional template to help develop your plan.

Gender-based violence prevention and response plan Word 73.73 KB (opens in a new window)

There are resources available from other organisations:

City of Melbourne – Gender safety audit checklist for licensed venues
OntoIt Media – Creating safe space and no tolerance policies for your live music venue
WorkSafe Victoria – accredited providers, resources and training on work-related gender violence
Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission – tools to help meet obligations
1800RESPECT – links to domestic, family and sexual violence counselling services

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Management plans to reduce alcohol-related harm

On this page

What is a management plan?

Why you need one

What to include

Venue management plan

Alcohol management plan

Event management plan

Gender-based violence prevention and response plan