You need a short term liquor licence to sell, supply or permit the consumption of liquor:
- at an event or function where you'll gain a commercial or financial benefit
- on regulated premises, even if you don't get any commercial or financial benefit.
If you intend to hold regular or recurring events you can apply for a short term (5 year) licence.
You don't need a liquor licence when holding an event or function on private premises where you're supplying liquor but not for commercial or financial benefit. For example, you don't need a liquor licence to host a birthday party at home where you're providing alcohol, or alcohol is being consumed but not sold.
The host or person organising the event needs to apply for the licence.
Existing licence holders who want to change or extend their trading hours or trading area for an event can apply.
Licence class types
Each event will be placed into a class, depending on how you want to trade. All licensees must comply with the general code of practice.
Class 1
- can only go for 1 day
- can only trade until midnight
- can't have more than 200 people at the event at any one time
- can't have prescribed entertainment.
Class 2
- can go for 1 or more days in duration
- can only trade until 2:00 am
- can't have more than 1,200 people at the event at any 1 time
- can't have prescribed entertainment.
Events that are restricted to direct sales transactions only, such as online or by mail order, are also categorised as Class 2.
Class 3
- can go for 1 or more days in duration
- can trade at any time
- can have more than 1,200 people at the event at any one time
- can have prescribed entertainment (if approved)
- a responsible person must be present at all times
- all persons involved in the sale or supply of liquor must have completed responsible service of alcohol training
- must comply with the late night code of practice where applicable.
What you'll need
All classes
You'll need to provide:
- details of your function and a description of how liquor will be served
- plan of the licensed area in one of these formats, unless your licence is for direct sales transactions, such as online or by mail order only:
- a floorplan of the venue with the licensed area outlined in red
- for large outdoor events, you can lodge a satellite image, such as from Google maps, of the premises with the licensed area outlined in red on the image.
How to submit a plan for a short term liquor licence (PDF, 1,9 MB)
Your event must comply with any other relevant rules and regulations. Make sure your local council is aware of your event, as well as any other interested party, for example your landlord.
In some cases, CBS may ask you to provide a completed Council Endorsement - Short Term Liquor Licence Application (PDF, 274 KB)
Class 1 and 2 events
For class 1 and 2 events, you'll need to decide who you want to nominate as the persons in charge of the event.
CBS recommends you nominate more than one person to be in charge in case a nominated person is unwell on the day of the event, or to allow each person in charge to take a break.
Class 3 events
For class 3 events you'll need to have a responsible person present at all times.
CBS recommends you nominate more than one responsible person in case a responsible person is unwell on the day of the event or to allow each responsible person to take a break.
For class 3 events, you'll also need to provide a copy of your management plan (PDF).
Fees
Class 1
| Class 1 event | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $114.00 |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Class 1 event where applicant holds a permanent licence and is holding an event on the licensed premises | |
| Application fee | $114.00 |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Class 1 event where the applicant is an incorporated body or an organisation registered with the ACNC | |
| Application fee | NIL |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Variation of licence | |
| Fee | $58.50 |
Class 2
Class 2 events are required to pay, in addition to the application fee, a daily fee for each day of the event. To calculate the daily fee you need to add the base amount and the capacity fee together.
| Class 2 event | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $242.00 |
| Late fee | $242.00 |
| Class 2 event where applicant holds a permanent licence and is holding an event on the licensed premises | |
| Application fee | $114.00 |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Class 2 event where the applicant is an incorporated body or an organisation registered with the ACNC | |
| Application fee | nil |
| Late fee | $242.00 |
| Class 2 event restricted to the sale of liquor by direct sales transactions (such as mail order) only | |
| Application fee | $114.00 |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Variation of licence | |
| Fee | $58.50 |
Class 3
Class 3 events are required to pay, in addition to the application fee, a daily fee for each day of the event. To calculate the daily fee you need to add the base amount, capacity fee and trading hours risk fee together.
| Class 3 event | Fee |
|---|---|
| Application fee | $754.00 |
| Late fee | $754.00 |
| Class 3 event where applicant holds a permanent licence and is holding an event on the licensed premises | |
| Application fee | $114.00 |
| Late fee | $114.00 |
| Class 3 event where the applicant is an incorporated body or an organisation registered with the ACNC | |
| Application fee | $754.00 |
| Late fee | $754.00 |
| Variation of licence | |
| Fee | $58.50 |
Daily fees
Daily fees apply to Class 2 and Class 3 events:
- for Class 2 events add the base amount and capacity fee together
- for Class 3 events add the base amount, capacity fee and trading hours risk fee together.
| Base amount | |
|---|---|
Standard base amount Base amount for an event restricted to direct sales transactions (ie temporary online sales) | $122.00 $12.20 |
| Capacity fee | |
0 to 500 501 to 1,000 1,001 to 5,000 5001 to 10,000 10,001 and over | nil $30.50 $61.00 $91.50 $122.00 |
| Trading hours risk fee | |
no liquor past 2.00 am past 2.00 am to 3.00 am past 3.00 am to 4.00 am past 4.00 am to 5.00 am past 5.00 am | nil $24.40 $72.50 $177.00 $354.00 |
Variations to a short term licence
You can apply to vary the conditions on your licence but you can't apply for a variation:
- that would place your short term licence in a different class
- to change the premises address
- to change who the licensee is
- to change the licensed area.
To make these types of changes you must cancel your existing licence and reapply.
If you think you may need to move your event to a different area of the premises, for example due to weather, you should consider applying for both areas to be licensed as you won't be able to change the area once the licence is granted.
Optional additions
You'll need to apply for prescribed entertainment consent if your event will have entertainment that:
- is sexually explicit
- involves boxing or martial arts.
Only Class 3 events can host prescribed entertainment.
Lodgement times
Applications must be lodged no later than the following times:
- Class 1 – 7 days prior to the event
- Class 2 – 30 days prior to the event
- Class 3 – 60 days prior to the event.
Applications lodged outside of these time frames are considered late applications and will incur additional fees.
There's no guarantee that you will be granted a licence if your application is late. The time frames allow CBS time to properly assess the application and seek the views of relevant stakeholders such as South Australia Police.
Contact CBS Liquor and Gaming
Email: shortterms@sa.gov.au
Phone: 131 882
Post: GPO Box 2169
Adelaide SA 5001
