Latest articles
3am pubs: great headline, but is it good business?
Labor has promised pubs could trade until 3am if it's re-elected. Before chasing a later close, it's worth asking whether those hours would make money, and whether an earlier start would earn more.
- Buying and selling a venue
Your permit is part of what you're selling
When you sell a café, bar or pub, buyers are buying what they'll be allowed to do with it. A restrictive licence or planning permit can quietly take value off the price. Here's how to check yours before you sell.
- Costs and timeframes
Why November and December are a smart time to apply for a liquor licence
Every Victorian liquor licence must be renewed by 31 December, whenever it was granted. Lodging a new application in November or December means it's likely to be granted in the new year, with most of a year's trade before the first renewal.
- Costs and timeframes
How much does a liquor licence cost in Victoria?
What a liquor licence costs in Victoria, broken into its parts: our fixed fee, Liquor Control Victoria's fees, and the site costs people forget.
- Costs and timeframes
How long does a liquor licence take in Victoria?
Realistic timeframes for a liquor licence in Victoria, stage by stage, and what usually slows things down.
- Planning and liquor
Do I need a planning permit for a liquor licence?
Since 1 July 2025, you don't need a planning permit to sell liquor in Victoria. Here's what that means for your venue, and what can still need a permit.
- Planning and liquor
VC286: what changed for venues on 1 July 2025
Amendment VC286 removed the planning permit requirement for liquor. What changed, what didn't, and our position on the old liquor conditions still printed on many permits.
- Buying and selling a venue
Buying a café, bar or pub: what to check before you sign
A practical checklist of the licence, planning permit and compliance checks to do before you buy a hospitality business in Victoria, and the red flags that should stop or reprice a sale.
- Our position
Layers of regulation
Why opening and running a venue in Victoria means answering to council, police, Liquor Control Victoria and the EPA, why small operators feel it most, and what we think should change.
About these articles.
Most questions we hear from venue owners come down to four things. What will it cost? How long will it take? Will the site allow what I want to do? And what do I do when council, police or Liquor Control Victoria (LCV) get involved? This is where we answer them in writing.
These articles cover Victorian liquor licensing and planning news and the everyday questions behind it. Some are plain explainers, written so a first-time café owner can follow every line. Others set out Plan2Pour's position on issues that affect venues, such as what Amendment VC286 means for old liquor conditions on planning permits, and why hospitality regulation in Victoria has too many overlapping layers.
We are consultants, not a law firm. Where an article sets out our position, we say so. It isn't legal advice, and every venue's permit, licence and site is different. If you want to know how something applies to your venue, book a 15-minute call and we'll tell you what we see.
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Every enquiry is read by a principal, not a call centre. The first conversation is free, and we reply within 24 hours.