Changes to the hours that alcohol can be sold at licensed shops, such as supermarkets and bottle shops take effect in Auckland today.
The change is part of Auckland’s local alcohol policy, which was approved by the region’s mayor and councillors in August 2024 in a push to reduce the level of harm caused by alcohol.
Councillor Josephine Bartley says this is one of the major changes the policy brings in to help reduce alcohol-related harm.
“We know that excessive alcohol can have a damaging effect on people’s lives, and so we need to make changes that make a difference to this very real issue.
“Reducing the hours that alcohol is available, as well as the number of places it can be purchased means alcohol is less easy to access.
“There has been a three-month grace period since the policy was adopted in August, to give businesses and their customers time to prepare for this change.
“We know they have been doing this and are grateful for the cooperation and understanding they have shown,” she says.
Before its adoption, Auckland’s local alcohol policy went through a lengthy consultation process, including workshops with residents, businesses, community groups and other stakeholders.
“Communities told us they needed us to step in and do something about the harmful impact alcohol can have on whānau, friends and all Aucklanders.
“We worked with them to shape a policy that would be impactful and remained fair and reasonable for businesses by putting them on a level playing field,” says Cr Bartley.
What changes today?
From today, there are changes to the hours that alcohol can be sold at licensed shops, bars, restaurants and clubs.
At licensed shops, such as supermarkets and bottle shops, alcohol can be sold no later than 9pm.
Bars and restaurants will be able to sell alcohol up until 4am in the city centre, and 3am outside of the city centre, as long as their licence currently permits them to do this.
Sports clubs and RSAs will be able to sell alcohol until 1am if they are licensed to do so.
The policy will not impact trading hours for special licences for festivals and events. These will continue to be assessed by the District Licensing Committee, as they are now.
A long time coming
“We started working on Auckland’s local alcohol policy in 2015. It’s been a long and, at times, frustrating journey to get to this point,” says Cr Bartley.
“What started as a standard policy consultation and submissions process soon turned into a legal battle between the council and supermarkets that ended up lasting for eight years.”
The appeals around maximum trading hours for supermarkets took the policy all the way to the Supreme Court. The appeals were dismissed in 2023, awarding costs to the council.
What is next for the policy?
Councillor Bartley says having a local alcohol policy in place is a step towards bringing down levels of alcohol-related harm.
“It’s positive that, after so long, we now have a local alcohol policy in place. We can build on this, and it gives us a chance to address new issues as we need to. Any proposed changes to the policy in the future will also go through a public consultation process. This means, going forward, Aucklanders will get to have a say over alcohol rules in their neighbourhoods.
“Now the policy has been fully implemented, council staff will turn their focus to monitoring the policy,” she says.
Auckland Council staff will monitor the effect of this policy to check it is having the desired impact. They will report back once it has been in place for 12 months.
Visit the Auckland Council website for more information on the local alcohol policy.
