Liquor licensing

Special licence

This licence is only valid for the timeframe permitted by the special licence. It can apply to a property, location or conveyance (eg boat or train).

The special licence holder must control the liquor at the event and ensure statutory responsibilities are observed. This cannot be achieved if guests bring their own liquor therefore special licences do not permit BYO functions.

When is a special licence needed
Applying for a special licence

When is a special licence needed?

You can take a bottle of wine to the beach or park for a picnic and consume it on public property without the need for a liquor licence. It is only when you book public property for a function, and it is cordoned off or under cover, eg a marquee or band rotunda, that you must apply for a special licence for the sale or supply of liquor.

A special licence is required if liquor is sold or supplied to any people attending any "particular" occasion or event or series of occasions or events. It is required at any function where:

no on licence or club licence exists
the caterer does not have an endorsed off licence
there are non-club members present on club licensed premises
the function is outside the hours or area authorised on an existing on licence or club licence

Examples of these functions include birthdays, weddings, social gatherings, client functions and other temporary bar set-ups.

Examples of a series of 'one-off' functions would be:

a three day event where you may wish to sell or supply liquor, and will be required to apply for one special licence for a series of days
a social club that holds drinks on the last Friday of each month can apply for all of these Fridays on the one special licence application
- you can apply 12 months in advance for these occasions/events if the event dates are known
- the event MUST be held on the same premises

You are not required to hold a special licence

if you are supplying liquor to your guests in your own private residence
if your guests are bringing liquor to your own private residence

Applying for a special licence

Special licences cannot be renewed. However, if you know the dates of future events to be held at the same venue, you can obtain a special licence for future events on the one application.

the fee for a special licence is $63.00. This fee is non-refundable
if you do not own the premises, the owner's consent must be included with the application
a floor plan of the premises must be included in the application
the processing time for an application for a special licence is 25 working days
the company or person taking the profit from the sale of liquor should be the applicant.
you must be 20 years or older to apply.

The processing time includes a period of 20 working days required by the Sale of Liquor Act 1989. Controversial applications or profit oriented commercial applications may need to be advertised through a public notice. Consequently, additional time is required to process these. In these cases 40 working days notice is required.

Print and send your application

If you are applying for a special licence, you need to provide all the required information when you lodge the application to avoid a delay in processing.

The special licence application forms and guidelines provide details on the information you are required to provide.

To apply for a special licence for an event

Complete the Application for special licence (315k PDF)
Send 3 copies of your application, including all the required information as stated in the guide, and the $63.00 fee to
The Secretary
District Licensing Agency
Auckland City Council

To view PDFs download Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website. Further help on how to view PDFs.