Community groups and survivor-advocates have welcomed the ACT Government's tabling today of its Liquor Amendment Bill 2025. The Bill updates the ACT's Liquor Act to provide important safety measures that will reduce harm to women and children. This is a critical moment in Australia's progress in addressing the crisis of family, domestic and sexual violence.
Liquor laws across the nation still fail to properly regulate today's online retail delivery environment, and the evidence shows this is fuelling and exacerbating family and domestic violence. Updates to the legal requirements are long overdue.
The ACT Government's move follows the commitment that all states and territories made to reviewing their liquor licensing laws, following a National Cabinet meeting in September 2024 to address the national crisis of domestic, family and sexual violence.
The meeting followed the release in August 2024 of the Federal Government's rapid review of evidence-based approaches to prevent gender-based violence, which recommended reform of alcohol laws to help address gendered violence.
The ACT's Liquor Amendment Bill 2025 provides a range of vital, common-sense measures around alcohol home delivery, including:
Amending delivery timeframes to between 10am and 10pm.
Establishing a 2-hour safety pause between sale and delivery.
Age verification for online sales of alcohol and some ID checks on alcohol delivery.
Establishing an offence for delivering alcohol to a person under 18 years; leaving alcohol unattended; and delivering to people who are intoxicated.
Supporting delivery staff with delivery-specific Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) training and not penalising them for refusals.
"Although the current Bill doesn't include some key measures called for by survivors, community organisations and the expert reviews – such as making harm minimisation the paramount objective of Liquor Acts and restricting alcohol marketing – it still constitutes a critical advancement in national alcohol laws, putting an emphasis on safety," said FARE CEO Ayla Chorley.
"We want to congratulate the ACT Government for showing leadership with this Bill. It's a landmark moment for prevention. Now it's time for other states and territories to follow their lead.
"We also welcome the ACT Attorney-General's commitment to further work to regulate alcohol marketing.
"We know that violence gets more severe late at night, when alcohol is being delivered into homes. This draft Bill includes meaningful measures that would make a real difference in preventing and reducing violence."
"The South Australian government is also progressing reform in this critical space, with their draft Liquor Licensing (Miscellaneous) Amendment Bill 2024, yet to be tabled," she stated.
South Australia's Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence provided further evidence and impetus to act swiftly by specifically recommending a minimum 2-hour 'safety-pause' delay to prevent the rapid delivery of alcohol; restrictions on sale and delivery timelines; and making harm minimisation the Act's paramount objective.
"We hope that SA, already having made such important progress with its own draft Bill, will be the next to introduce the much-needed changes to its alcohol sale laws," Ms Chorley stated.
ATODA CEO Anita Mills also welcomed the ACT's move. "The ACT government has taken an important step in prioritising public health and wellbeing through these proposed changes in the Bill," she stated. "We know that alcohol remains the principal drug of concern at a national level, with alcohol-related deaths hitting a 10 year high in 2022. This is a welcomed public policy shift that ATODA is pleased to get behind."
