These restrictions come from Auckland’s Local Alcohol Policy and can affect where, when or whether alcohol licences are granted or renewed.
Maximum trading hours
You cannot sell or supply alcohol beyond the hours set in your current licence. Selling alcohol outside the permitted trading hours may result in enforcement action. If you want to change your hours, visit Change conditions of your alcohol business.
On-licences
Businesses with alcohol on-licences cannot sell alcohol:
- outside the city centre after 3am
- within the city centre after 4am.
Hotel on-licences may sell alcohol to lodgers at any time.
You cannot sell alcohol within Auckland after 3am:
- on boats, planes, buses, trains and other types of transportation
- if you run a catering business.
Off-licences
Premises with off-licences cannot sell alcohol across Auckland after 9pm. Remote (online) sellers can sell alcohol at any time but only deliver to customers between 6am and 11pm.
Club-licences
All premises with club licences cannot sell alcohol after 1am. RSAs will be able to sell alcohol from 5am on Anzac Day if their licence conditions permit.
Temporary freeze for new off-licences
From Monday 16 September 2024, a two‑year freeze on new off‑licences came into effect in the city centre and 23 other priority overlay areas.
As a result, applications for new off‑licences in these areas are likely to be declined until 16 September 2026:
- Auckland city centre
- Avondale
- Clendon
- Glen Eden
- Glen Innes
- Helensville and Parakai
- Henderson
- Hunters Corner
- Māngere
- Māngere East
- Manukau
- Manurewa
- Mt Wellington
- Oranga
- Ōtāhuhu
- Ōtara
- Panmure
- Papakura
- Papatoetoe
- Point England
- Pukekohe
- Takanini
- Wellsford and Te Hana
- Wiri.
Visit Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) areas for maps of the city centre and priority overlay areas.
The freeze does not apply to:
- renewal applications
- new off-licence applications for premises operating under an off-licence in the last six months
- remote (online) sales premises, complementary sales premises and auctioneers Businesses where alcohol would be an appropriate complement to goods sold in the shop..
New applications
The District Licensing Committee (DLC) now reviews applications based on the Local Alcohol Policy changes.
New applications are likely to be declined for:
- neighbourhood centres
- city centre and priority overlay areas from 16 September 2026, which is two years after the temporary freeze.
However, if a new application is made, the DLC will assess it on a case-by-case basis. You will need to include reasons in your application for why a new off-licence should be approved despite the LAP. This does not apply to remote (online) sales premises.
Visit GeoMaps for location maps of the neighbourhood centres.
Conditions to operate the business
According to the LAP, the DLC may apply some conditions on new or renewed licences. This can include:
- CCTV requirements
- having additional managers on duty
- monitoring of exterior areas.