Licensed premises in catchment areas

A catchment area is a location that provides a relatively convenient source of alcohol within a few hours travel of a restricted area community. Residents often purchase or order alcohol from nearby towns and return with it to their communities.

Most licensed premises in catchment areas have trading conditions placed on their licence to support alcohol restrictions and limit the amount of illicit alcohol that enters a restricted area.

Conditions on licensed premises in catchment areas

Four basic conditions have been imposed on most licensed premises situated in catchment areas near Aboriginal communities and Torres Strait Islander communities, including:

• no alcohol sales to taxi drivers who are acting as a third party
• no licensee can hold a patron's bank access cards
• a ban on the sale of pre-mixed spirits in containers exceeding 2L and all other liquor in containers exceeding 4L
• a ban on the sale of fortified wines, such as port, muscat and sherry, in glass flagons.

Not all of these conditions apply in Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa because of practical difficulties in conditioning all licensed premises in these large cities.

Additional conditions on licensed premises in catchment areas

If there is evidence that alcohol sold from such premises are directly linked to problems in a community, stricter conditions may also be imposed on the licence. This includes conditions to limit and monitor the supply of alcohol, such as:

• requiring a 'bulk sales' register for takeaway sales
• prohibiting the sale of alcohol to persons known to be travelling into a restricted area
• limiting or banning the sale of certain products, such as fortified wine.

Also consider...

• Learn more about refusal of service, including banning problem patrons.