The NSW government has announced that temporary takeaway alcohol laws will be made permanent across hospitality venues.
This will allow lower-risk licensed venues, including restaurants and cafés, to sell takeaway and home delivery alcohol under the Liquor Act 2007.
Treasurer Matt Kean says most of the temporary regulations introduced to support businesses and individuals due to COVID-19 had proven to be both popular and effective and, after consultation and evaluation, it made sense to retain them.
“From allowing greater use of food trucks and dark kitchens, to giving workers more flexibility in how they take long service leave – these measures have been providing the extra support many businesses needed during COVID-19,” Matt says.
“By keeping these changes, we are allowing more paper processes to be handled digitally, more meetings to occur remotely, greater flexibility for home business operations and keeping people in jobs.”
Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes says the planning system had been an enabler for productivity and growth during the pandemic.
“The disruption of the pandemic allowed us to experiment with how the planning system can work better to drive productivity. We’re now securing those benefits in perpetuity,” Rob says.
“We know the pandemic has spurred new ways of living, working and playing, and the planning system must support those shifts and allow our communities to live better lives.”
Restaurant and Catering Association (R&CA) CEO Wes Lambert welcomed this landmark announcement.
“Now that the pandemic has ended, we know that more and more Australians are still choosing to dine at home and that these laws will help businesses keep up with changing consumer wants and needs,” he says.
An additional $3.1 billion in economic benefits are expected to be realised over the coming decade across NSW due to the permanent adoption of the many initiatives introduced.
For more information, click here.
