Producer's licence

Who it's for

A producer's licence is the Victorian liquor licence for breweries, wineries and distilleries selling what they make: at the cellar door, through tastings, online, wholesale, and at markets and events. Liquor Control Victoria (LCV) issues it. We set it up around how you plan to sell, and check the planning side of your site at the same time.

• You make beer, wine, spirits or another liquor.
• You want a cellar door or tasting room.
• You sell at markets and events, online, or wholesale to venues.
• You're moving to a new site or adding a tasting room.

Not you? If you sell other makers' liquor, see the packaged liquor licence.

Plan for growth now. A tasting room that becomes a venue changes the licence you need.

Old permit conditions? If your permit has liquor conditions from before July 2025, some may no longer apply. We can check which still bind.

What a producer's licence covers, and where it stops

The licence is about your own product. Cellar door sales, tastings, shipping orders, trade customers and market stalls all sit under it.

Customers can drink your product on site or take it away, and you can also sell other makers' drinks for drinking on site, within set hours (7 am to 11 pm, from 10 am on Sundays). It gets less simple with later hours, takeaway sales of other makers' drinks, a kitchen that turns the tasting room into a venue, or events that draw a big crowd. Those plans may need a different or additional licence, such as an on-premises licence. We ask where you want to be in a few years, so the licence doesn't box you in.

The planning side for makers

Since 1 July 2025 you don't need a planning permit just to sell or serve liquor. But the site's use, and the buildings and works for a tasting room, may still need one depending on the zone and any overlays (extra controls such as heritage). We check first and, if a permit is needed, prepare it. See planning permits for a new venue.

Online sales and events

Online sales carry delivery rules and reporting obligations; ComplianceCare, our ongoing compliance service, can keep that reporting in order. If you're running an event yourself, or selling drinks you didn't make, look at an event liquor licence.

How it works

We start with how you sell, then build the licence around it.

1. 15-minute call Tell us how you sell now and how you want to. We confirm the licence and fix our fee.
2. Online form Upload business details, production details and site plans through your client portal.
3. Application and red line plan We draw the red line plan, showing the cellar door or tasting room, and prepare the application. Nothing goes to LCV without your sign-off.
4. Lodgement to decision We lodge and deal with LCV's questions and any objections through to a decision.

Fees and timing

Fixed fee, agreed up front. LCV's fees are separate.

Our fee

From $1,599 + GST, red line plan included

Planning permit, if needed

Fixed fee, quoted before we start

LCV fees

Set in fee units, updated each 1 July

Decision

Around 12 weeks from lodgement if straightforward; longer with objections

What we need from you

Have these ready, or tell us what's missing.

• Business entity details
• What you make and how you sell it
• Site or floor plan of production and visitor areas
• Cellar door or tasting room hours
• Current planning permit, if any

Questions