Crucial to many licensing hearings are issues of “amenity and good order of the locality”, as key criteria for issuing (section 105) or renewal (section 131) of alcohol licences.

For a new licence, the focus is on whether the amenity and good order would likely be reduced by the issue of a licence, or if the amenity and good order is already so badly affected by existing licences, that it wouldn’t get much worse, but it is nevertheless not desirable to issue more licences.

For a licence renewal, the focus is on whether the amenity and good order would be increased as a result of declining the licence renewal.

So what are amenity and good order effects?

First, they must relate to the locality (not defined but understood to generally be a suburb, community, or 1-2km radius from the premises) of the licensed premises.  Amenity and good order is characterised in the Act (section 5) as the extent to which a locality is pleasant and agreeable.

With regards to new licence applications, section 106 of the Act directs licensing committees to have regard to the following matters:

• Current, and possible future, noise levels
• Current, and possible future, levels of nuisance and vandalism
• The number of premises for which the same kind of licences are already held

And, the extent to which the following purposes are compatible:

• The purposes for which land near the premises concerned is used
• The purposes for which those premises will be used if the licence is issued.

With regards to licence renewals, section 106 of the Act directs licensing committees to have regard to the following when forming an opinion on whether the amenity and good order of a locality would be increased as a result of declining the renewal of a licence:

• Current, and possible future, noise levels
• Current, and possible future, levels of nuisance and vandalism

For a licensing hearing it is good to for community objectors (and regulatory agencies) to present evidence relating to the amenity and good order of the locality.  This may include evidence documenting noise, nuisance, and vandalism, or it may consist of evidence documenting the extent to which the locality is pleasant and agreeable.

Examples of effects that reduce the good order and amenity of a locality

• Existing alcohol-related harm
• Crime
• Anti-social behaviour, drunk and disorderly, violence
• Socioeconomic deprivation
• Vomit, urine, faeces, etc.
• Broken glass, littered containers, soiled condoms etc.
• Noise, loud music, loud patrons