3am pubs: great headline, but is it good business?

Article

In short

• Labor has pledged that, if re-elected in November, pubs would automatically be allowed to trade until 3am instead of having to apply to trade past 1am.
• For many pubs, especially smaller owner-operated venues, the hours between 1am and 3am bring higher wages, thinner trade and more risk.
• An earlier start can be worth more. Morning functions, wakes, club meetings and race days are booked, predictable and low risk.
• Since 1 July 2025, a planning permit is no longer needed for liquor. Old permit conditions that limit your hours may be worth a second look.

The pledge

Pub trading hours are back in the news ahead of the November state election. Premier Ben Carroll has pledged that, if Labor is re-elected, pubs would automatically be allowed to trade until 3am, rather than having to apply to trade beyond 1am. Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has said she isn't opposed to extended trading hours, while warning that more needs to be done to bring patrons through the door.

This isn't a political post. Whichever way you vote, the question for venue owners is the same: does trading until 3am actually make sense for your business?

For some venues it will. For a lot of pubs, especially smaller owner-operated venues, the numbers don't stack up. On paper, two extra hours sounds like two extra hours of revenue. In practice, it's often more cost and more risk for very little return.

So the real question isn't "can I trade until 3am?" It's "should I, and is there a better use of my licence?"

The cost side of 1am to 3am

Wages. After midnight, higher late-night rates apply under the award, so every hour on the roster costs more. You still need a full floor team, security if your licence requires it, and someone to close and clean afterwards. That cost is the same whether you have 200 people in or 20.

Trade. For most suburban and regional pubs, the crowd thins well before 1am. The people still there at 2am usually aren't the dinner and drinks crowd. There are fewer of them, and they've been drinking longer.

Risk. Later hours carry a higher risk of intoxication and antisocial behaviour. That means more pressure on your staff, more incidents to manage and more exposure for your licence. One bad night at 2.30am can create problems that far outweigh the takings.

For a lot of venues, the honest maths is higher costs, lower trade and more risk. That's not a recipe for profit.

Look at the other end of the day

Here's what often gets missed. Some pubs can't serve alcohol until late morning, and some not until midday, because of the hours on an older licence or planning permit.

That's a real constraint, and it can cost more than the 1am close. Think about what happens in the morning:

• corporate breakfasts and morning functions
• wakes and memorial gatherings
• club and community group meetings
• christenings, brunches and celebrations
• race days and major sporting events with early starts.

A 10am function with a booked headcount, a set menu and a deposit is predictable, well staffed and low risk. Compare that with hoping a handful of patrons stay past 1am on late-night rates.

For many venues, an earlier start is worth far more than a later finish.

The planning side has changed too

There's another piece of the puzzle many operators haven't caught up with. On 1 July 2025, Amendment VC286 removed clause 52.27 from every Victorian planning scheme. Since then, a planning permit is no longer needed to sell or consume liquor.

Why does that matter for trading hours? Many venues still operate under planning permit conditions that limit their hours, and some of those conditions only existed because of clause 52.27. It's our position that conditions that related solely to clause 52.27 no longer have effect. We explain this in VC286: what changed for venues on 1 July 2025.

If your venue's use doesn't need a planning permit in its zone, old hours limits on your permit may no longer bind you. That opens the door to setting your hours on your terms, not terms set years ago under a clause that no longer exists. Your liquor licence conditions still apply, so any change to when you serve alcohol still goes through Liquor Control Victoria (LCV).

So what should you do?

Before chasing a 3am close, ask yourself:

1. What does my trade look like after midnight? Look at your till data hour by hour, not your gut feel.
2. What does it cost me to stay open? Wages, security, cleaning, power and risk.
3. Where am I turning business away? If you're knocking back morning functions because you can't serve until midday, that's money on the table.
4. What do my licence and permit actually say? Older licences and permits often contain limits that may no longer apply, or that are worth changing.

Trading hours should fit your venue, your community and your customers, not a headline.

How Plan2Pour can help

We review licences and planning permits to find what's holding venues back, and we help them change their trading hours, whether that's an earlier start for functions or a later finish where it genuinely makes sense. To have your licence and permit reviewed, email hello@plan2pour.com.au or call (03) 7064 8477.

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