New Zealand to reform Liquor
Licensing Law

A public consultation in regard to reform of the legislation governing sales of alcohol has been launched by the New Zealand Law Commission.

Announcing the consultation, Law Commission President the Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Palmer said that the evidence suggested the time had come to review the policy settings to reduce the excesses and curb the harm from alcohol. That view, he said, had wide support from a range of highly credible groups, including judges, medical specialists and police.

Sir Geoffrey continued:

“Not everyone drinks in a manner that is harmful but the consequences of harmful drinking affect us all. Alcohol is a contributory factor to a range of social harms. Some of these problems are very visible such as antisocial behaviour and aggression associated with intoxication in public places.

“Alcohol’s association with other problems is less visible but still has potentially devastating effects on those involved – accidents, road fatalities, fires, drownings, suicides, alcohol dependency disorders and a range of health problems…. There is also strong new evidence that young people face increased risks of harm, of both short term and longer term harm, from early and high volume drinking.”

Sir Geoffrey explained that the effects of alcohol use on the level of criminal offending in the community was a key issue in the report on which the public’s views were being sought. So were the health effects of alcohol use.”

Among the options the Law Commission put forward for public consideration are:

• A complete new Sale of Liquor Act

• Measures aimed at curbing harmful drinking including options designed to reduce the availability of cheap alcohol products which tend to be favoured by price sensitive young and heavy drinkers

• Reducing excise tax on low alcohol products to encourage consumption over products with higher alcohol content

• Reducing the hours within which alcohol can be purchased

• Introducing a split purchase age for alcohol allowing young people to drink on a licensed premise at 18 and to purchase from an off-licence at 20

• Expanding the criteria under which a licence can be declined

• Expanding the range of conditions that can be imposed on licensees

• Introducing graduated licensing fees to ensure low risk operators are not unfairly burdened.