What are your obligations for trading on Christmas Day, Easter, and ANZAC day?
Christmas Day, Easter & Anzac Day Trading Laws
- Good Friday: Restricted Trading Rules apply
- Easter Saturday: Your Licence Conditions apply as usual
- Easter Sunday: Restricted Trading Rules apply
- Easter Monday: Your Licence Conditions apply as usual
- Anzac Day: Restricted Trading Rules until 1.00pm
- Christmas Day: Restricted Trading Rules apply
On-licenced premises
Below is a link to section 47 of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, which is the relevant section for Easter, Anzac and Christmas trading.
Sale and supply on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day: Trading for on-licences
Essentially on Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and up to 1.00 pm on Anzac Day (25 April) you can only serve alcohol to people who:
- are present on the premises to dine – this includes one hour before they eat and one hour after they finish eating and no longer. They must be having a substantial meal to qualify as ‘dining’.
- are residing or lodging on the premises – for example someone staying the night in a hotel can go to the hotel bar and have an alcoholic beverage as per your standard licence conditions.
- are present to attend an event which is part of a special licence.
- are not minors or intoxicated.
We strongly urge you to give your staff a briefing on the Christmas Day, Easter Trading and Anzac Day Laws in whatever format suits your business best – this could be a sit-down meeting, sharing on a staff group chat, putting information up on staff notice boards or one on one briefings – whatever is going to work for you. Please also ensure that your staff understand what is meant by a ‘substantial meal’ so customers are getting a consistent message.
Don’t forget to record what you have done, including dates, names and signatures, as this can be used as part of evidence of staff training at your next licence renewal.
Off-licenced premises
Below is a link to section 48 of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, which is the relevant section for Christmas, Easter & Anzac trading for Off licences.
Sale and supply on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day: Trading for off-licences
Off-licensed premises cannot trade on Good Friday or Easter Sunday or before 1.00pm on Anzac Day. If you do online sales, customers can still order online on those days, but no deliveries can be made.