Alcohol laws

Legislation reforming New Zealand's alcohol laws was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2012. The legislation was known as the Alcohol Reform Bill, but it was split into the three bills. The alcohol reform legislation now consists of three Acts: Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act Local Government (Alcohol Reform) Amendment Act Summary Offences (Alcohol Reform) Amendment Act. The new laws replace the Sale of Liquor Act 1989 in stages by December 18.

Key features include: Increasing the ability of communities to have a say on local alcohol licensing matters, allowing local-level decision making for all licence applications, requiring express consent of a parent or guardian before supplying alcohol to a minor, strengthening the rules around the types of stores eligible to sell alcohol, introducing maximum default trading hours for licensed premises and restricting supermarket and grocery store alcohol displays to a single area.