The Justice Committee has examined the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Rugby World Cup 2023 Extended Trading Hours) Amendment Bill and recommends that it be passed. We recommend all amendments unanimously.

The bill would temporarily amend the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012. Under the Act, eligible licensees can apply for a special licence for specific events, or a series of events, to allow them to trade outside the hours included in their existing licence. The bill would temporarily amend the Act to allow eligible licensees to extend their trading hours for the purposes of televising games played as part of the men’s Rugby World Cup 2023, without applying for a special licence. The bill would also establish a notification system for licensees to notify the Police in advance about their plans, and a new record-keeping requirement for the Police.

The key changes that the bill would introduce are as follows:

• eligible on-licence and club licence holders could extend their trading hours to televise games from the men’s Rugby World Cup 2023 without applying for a special licence

• the primary or sole purpose of the premises being open during extended hours must be to allow customers to watch a live televised game of the men’s Rugby World Cup 2023

• opening and closing times for the extended trading hours would be regulated by the bill

• licence holders would be required to give the Police and territorial authorities at least 7 days’ written notice if they intend to extend their trading hours to televise a game and explain how they are going to avoid additional noise disruption

• licence holders would be required to notify the Police and territorial authorities as soon as practicable if they change their plans and decide not to open after having notified otherwise

• the Police would retain the power under section 266 of the Act to immediately shut down premises in certain circumstances (such as serious disorder, a significant threat to public health or safety, or a substantial public nuisance)

• the Police would be required to keep records of the notifications, including information on the number of notifications received, the periods of the extended hours notified, the period of notice given, and the number of cancelled notifications.

As part of our consideration of the bill, we have examined its consistency with principles of legislative quality. We have no issues regarding the legislation’s design to bring to the attention of the House.

This commentary covers amendments we recommend to the bill as introduced.

Clause 4 of the bill would insert new sections 45A to 45H into the Act to establish the temporary notification system, and set out its conditions and requirements.

New section 45E(1)(c) of the bill as introduced would restrict the use of outdoor areas during extended trading hours. Licensees would have to comply with the following conditions:

• Outside areas could not be used for any purpose (despite section 12 of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act 1990).

• Outside audio equipment could not be used.

• Bottles or other rubbish could not be disposed of, or left for collection, outside.

Neither the bill nor the Act defines “outside” or “outside area”. Some submitters told us that they have experienced issues arising from differing interpretations of these terms.¹

We do not think it would be appropriate for a temporary amendment bill to define such general terms. We consider it more appropriate for the terminology in this section to be aligned with that used in existing legislation. The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act is already mentioned in new section 45E(1)(c)(i). That Act uses and defines the term “open area” in the context of licensed premises. “Open area” is defined in section 2(1) of that Act as any area that is not an “internal area”. An “internal area” is defined as, essentially, any area within a premises that is enclosed by a ceiling or roof, walls, and windows and doors that shut.

We recommend amending proposed section 45E(1)(c) to replace references to “outside” and “outside areas” with “open areas”. We also recommend specifying that, for the purposes of section 45E(1)(c), “open area” has the same meaning as under section 2(1) of the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products Act.

New section 45F would specify that all licensed premises operating under the notification system must promptly display a general statement about how their trading hours are to be extended.

Submitters told us that there was widespread non-compliance with the equivalent provision when temporary amendments to the Act were made for earlier rugby world cups.

Section 259 of the Act sets out the offence provisions in the Act and establishes a maximum penalty of $5,000 for failure or refusal to comply. For the avoidance of doubt, we recommend inserting a new section 45F(3) to make it clear that any failure to comply is to be treated as an offence under section 259(1) of the Act.

Some submitters made suggestions for wider reform of alcohol laws, including:

• implementing a permanent legislative solution for similar events

• reviewing the special licence process

• amending the Act to provide stricter controls on advertising, sponsorship, and promotion of alcohol, including in relation to sports.

We are aware that the Government intends to consider further alcohol reforms in 2024. We note that similar bills were passed prior to the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups. We recommend that the Government consider a permanent legislative solution for the sale and supply of alcohol during future rugby world cups and other similar events. We also recommend that work on further reforms include a review of the special licence process.

The Labour Party members of the committee recommend that, as part of further reform, the Government also consider the suggestion of amending the Act to provide stricter controls on advertising, sponsorship, and promotion of alcohol, including in relation to sports.