Easter & Anzac Trading Laws

As Easter and Anzac Day draw closer, we would like to take this opportunity to remind you of the Easter & Anzac Trading Laws. This year the public holidays are as follows:

ON LICENCED PREMISES

Below is a link to section 47 of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, which is the relevant section for Easter & Anzac trading.

Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 No 120 (as at 30 November 2022), Public Act 47 Sale and supply on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day restricted: on-licences – New Zealand Legislation

Essentially on Friday 18 April 2025, Sunday 20 April 2025 and up to 1.00 pm on 25 April 2025 you can only serve alcohol to people who:

• are present on the premises to dine – this includes one hour before they eat and one hour after they finish eating and no longer. They must be having a substantial meal to qualify as ‘dining’.
• are residing or lodging on the premises – for example someone staying the night in a hotel can go to the hotel bar and have an alcoholic beverage as per your standard licence conditions.
• are present to attend an event which is part of a special licence.
• are not minors or intoxicated.

We strongly urge you to give your staff a briefing on the Easter Trading and Anzac Day Laws in whatever format suits your business best – this could be a sit-down meeting, sharing on a staff group chat, putting information up on staff notice boards or one on one briefings – whatever is going to work for you. Please also ensure that your staff understand what is meant by a ‘substantial meal’ so customers are getting a consistent message.

Don’t forget to record what you have done, including dates, names and signatures, as this can be used as part of evidence of staff training at your next licence renewal.

OFF LICENCED PREMISES

Below is a link to section 48 of the Sale & Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, which is the relevant section for Easter & Anzac trading for Off licences.

Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012 No 120 (as at 30 November 2022), Public Act 48 Sale on Anzac Day morning, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Christmas Day restricted: off-licences – New Zealand Legislation

Off Licensed premises CANNOT trade on Good Friday or Easter Sunday or before 1.00pm on Anzac Day. If you do online sales, customers can still order online on those days, but no deliveries can be made.

If you have any queries on any of the above, please contact the Licensing Inspector at: [email protected] or call 07 895 8188 or 06 385 8364.