Australia, Aug. 16 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 16:
1. The Applicant, Ms Gregory, holds a hotel liquor licence granted under the Liquor Act 2007 (NSW) in respect of premises known as The Coopers Hotel Newtown (Premises).
2. In May 2024, the Applicant submitted four separate applications to the respondent, the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (Authority), in respect of the Premises which, in summary, concerned an application for a new extended trading authorisation which appears to have related only to internal areas of the Premises and was made under the Liquor Act, s 49; an application to vary the closure times under the Liquor Act, s 11A; permission to change the liquor closure period allowing trade to midnight on Sundays; and an application for a change to the gaming shut-down hours for each day of the week.
3. On 20 November 2024, the Authority resolved that:
1) The application for a new extended trading authorisation was approved;
2) The application for a change of licence conditions (varying closure times) was approved;
3) The application concerning a change to the liquor closure period, allowing trade to midnight on Sundays, was approved; and
4) The application to change the gaming shutdown hours was refused.
4. In determining the various applications, the Authority, as it was empowered to do, also resolved to impose 14 conditions on the Applicant's licence. Only one, being Condition 14, is relevant to the proceedings before the Tribunal.
5. Following the making of the resolutions, the Authority communicated its decision to the Applicant in writing on 20 December 2024. It did so in the following terms:
We approve the application for a new extended trading authorisation, change of conditions and change of liquor closure period under section 49, 53 and 11A of the Liquor Act 2007 - with the conditions set out in Schedule 1. The 6-hour closure period overrides any condition of the licence.
We refuse the application for a variation to gaming shutdown hours under Section 41 of the Gaming Machines Act 2001 and impose a late-night gaming condition which prohibits the hotel from operating gaming machines after midnight. [original emphasis]
6. Attached to the communicated decision was Schedule 1, which is referred to in the passage above and which is in identical terms to the Annexure A referred to in the resolutions. The full title of Schedule 1 was "Schedule 1: Licence conditions to be imposed - The Coopers Hotel Newtown". Relevantly, Condition 14 to Schedule 1 provided that "no gaming machines will be operated after 12:00 midnight".
Issue
7. The Authority has contended at an early stage that the decision, the subject of Ms Gregory's application to the Tribunal, is not capable of being reviewed by it and should be dismissed pursuant to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act, s 55(1)(b).
8. The relevant decision involved the imposition of a condition on an existing hotel liquor licence prohibiting the operation of gaming machines after midnight. The issue for determination is whether the Tribunal has jurisdiction to conduct a merits review of the Authority's decision to impose a condition of this kind in the manner in which it did so.
9. For the reasons that follow, I have determined that the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to determine the application, and it will be dismissed.
Application for adjournment of the jurisdiction question
10. At the date when the Tribunal heard the Authority's application concerning jurisdiction, an appeal was pending that is to be heard on 25 July 2025 with regard to the decision of PM Ransome in Burwood RSL Club v Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority [2025] NSWCATATD 78. Accordingly, the Authority submitted that the hearing of the present jurisdictional question should be adjourned pending the hearing of the appeal to avoid any inconsistency of outcome.
*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1980b76629661915b4c177a1)
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