Whether a minor may be on your licensed premises flips at the state border: New South Wales allows minors in many licensed venues, while Queensland bans them unless an exemption applies and fines a licensee up to A$17,270.
Skai Solutions answers the phone for venues in both markets, and this is the booking question staff most often answer from memory instead of from the licence. Below is what the two regulators actually publish, side by side, with the numbers and the dates.
Yes, in many of them. Liquor and Gaming NSW puts it plainly: minors are allowed in many licensed venues in New South Wales, with strict controls on four kinds in particular, being small bars, hotels, registered clubs and packaged liquor. The control is the area and the supervision, not the front door.
A minor in a controlled area needs a responsible adult, and the term is defined rather than left to judgement. Under the NSW liquor laws a responsible adult is a parent, step-parent or guardian of the minor, the minor's spouse or de facto partner, or an adult standing in as the parent of the minor for the time being. A family friend at the next table is not automatically one.
The carve-outs are specific and worth knowing because staff usually guess at them. A minor may enter and remain in a small bar that regularly provides meals with a responsible adult, or where the bar holds a minors authorisation. A functions authorisation opens a restricted area for a wedding or a birthday. A minor may be in a club bar area for a wedding reception for a club member or a member's child or parent, on a formal invitation. An apprentice or trainee getting trade training unrelated to alcohol may be in parts of a hotel without an adult, under a minors area authorisation. A minor performing in a show may be in a bar area with a responsible adult, and a minor may walk through a bar area with one, for as long as it takes to get to somewhere they are allowed to be.
Unaccompanied minors are not allowed in bottle shops, in the liquor sales area of a supermarket, or anywhere liquor is sold in sealed containers to take away, and an adult must not leave a minor alone in those areas.
No. The Queensland default is the opposite of the New South Wales one. The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation states that it is illegal for under 18s to be on licensed premises, and then lists the exemptions that let them be there anyway: the minor lives on the premises, is working there or getting training or work experience, is attending a function, is on premises holding a community club licence, community-other licence or restricted liquor permit without breaking the club rules or a licence condition, is approved by the Commissioner or by a licence condition, or is eating a meal or accompanied by an adult who is responsibly supervising them.
That last exemption has a 5pm cliff and it is the one that catches people. The meal and accompanied-adult exemption does not apply if the minor is on the premises after 5pm and the premises is operating under a nightclub licence. After 5pm on a nightclub licence, the meal does not help and the parent does not help.
The same page makes every member of staff responsible, naming bar staff, contracted security, bottle shop attendants and restaurant staff. And the penalties page goes further: when an employee commits the offence, the licensee is presumed to have participated in it. There are exactly two defences for a non-exempt minor being on the premises. Either the minor got in without your knowledge or authority and you exercised due diligence, or you sighted acceptable identification showing 18 or over.
Both states publish their numbers, and the shape of the two schedules is not the same.
| What happened | New South Wales maximum | Queensland maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Non-exempt minor present, licensee or manager | A$5,500 for failing to refuse entry of a suspected minor to a small bar, hotel, registered club or licensed public entertainment venue | A$17,270 on prosecution |
| Alcohol supplied to a minor on the premises | A$11,000 or 12 months imprisonment, or both | A$86,350 for a licensee or approved manager |
| Same offence, the staff member who poured it | A$11,000 or 12 months imprisonment, or both, for any person | A$13,816 for a bar attendant or individual |
| Minor in a bar area, the minor's own fine | A$2,200 | Covered by the presence offence above |
| Responsible adult leaves the minor unaccompanied | A$3,300 | Not published as a separate adult offence |
| Repeat offending | 6 or more demerit points in 3 years can disqualify the licensee, approved manager or club secretary, and a non-club licence can be suspended for up to 14 days | 2 convictions in 2 years across sections 155(3A), 156(1) and 156(2) suspends the licence for the premises where the latest offence happened |
The New South Wales figures are the maximum court penalties from the Liquor and Gaming NSW schedule, and the same page gives the number an operator is far more likely to see: an on-the-spot fine under the Liquor Act 2007 is generally 10 per cent of the maximum court penalty. So the A$5,500 door offence is a A$550 ticket and the A$11,000 supply offence is a A$1,100 one, until somebody decides to prosecute instead.
Skai Solutions works both markets, so we ran the two schedules against each other. This arithmetic is ours, from the published figures above.
Two honest cautions on that table. These are maximums and neither regulator publishes what a typical outcome is. And the two states do not define the offences identically, so the comparison is of exposure for the same real-world event, not of like-named sections.
Here is the finding nobody in hospitality writes down. In New South Wales a minor who drinks on licensed premises faces a maximum of A$2,200. A minor who possesses or drinks the same alcohol in a public place, without a responsible adult supervising and without a reasonable excuse, faces a maximum penalty of A$20 under the Summary Offences Act 1988.
That is a 110-fold difference for the same drink, and the only variable is which side of your threshold it was on. It is the clearest statement available of why the doorway is the control point, and it explains the one rule that surprises new staff most: New South Wales asks you to check anyone who looks under 25, not anyone who looks under 18. Seven years of margin is not caution, it is the published standard.
In both states, yes, but the boundary is drawn around the liquor rather than around the job. Queensland lists working, training and work experience as an exemption outright. New South Wales allows a minor employee who is not involved in selling or supplying liquor, with approval from the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, and the approval form was last updated on 26 November 2025.
The New South Wales detail is the sharp one. A minor authorised to work may do logistical duties such as stocking shelves in storage rooms with sealed alcohol, and moving alcohol from a delivery truck into the premises, but care must be taken that this happens out of customer view. If the same task is done in a public area it may count as a minor exposing liquor for sale, which is prohibited under the Liquor Act 2007. The identical carton, carried by the identical 17 year old, is lawful in the store room and a potential offence in the bottle shop aisle. Separately, a licensee who lets a minor sell or supply alcohol without that authority faces A$5,500.
If you are rostering under 18s, the pay side sits in a different instrument again. Our junior pay rates in hospitality page covers the percentages the award applies by age, and how to train restaurant staff covers getting the door script into people's heads rather than into a folder.
"Can we bring the kids?" is one of the most common booking questions a pub, bistro or club takes, and it is one of the easiest to answer wrongly, because the right answer depends on your licence type, which room they will sit in, whether an adult is with them, and in Queensland what time it is. Staff who would never pour for a minor will cheerfully tell a caller on Tuesday that the family is fine in the front bar on Saturday.
Skai Solutions answers the phone with the answer your licence actually supports, in your wording, the same way every time, and setup takes five days. That is worth something if your team currently improvises it. It is worth nothing if they already get it right, and we would rather say so than pretend the phone is the problem here.
The broader version of that, and what one actually does on a venue phone through service, is set out on our page on AI receptionists for restaurants and cafes.
A related staffing point that catches venues with young teams: a junior cannot be left to field a licensing question on the phone. What an AI phone answering service for restaurants can and cannot answer is set out on its own page.
Venues that answer this question on the phone a dozen times a weekend sometimes move it off the floor entirely. Whether that is worth doing at a small venue is worked through on our page on whether an AI receptionist works for a coffee shop.
This is general information about two states, read from the regulators on 29 September 2026, and it is not legal advice. Three limits worth stating plainly.
First, your own licence and its conditions can be stricter than the general law, and a condition beats a web page including this one. Second, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory each run their own liquor act and are not covered here, so do not carry a New South Wales or Queensland answer across another border. Third, if your venue is a restaurant licence seating families at 6pm, most of the exposure above is not aimed at you. The risk concentrates in hotels, small bars, registered clubs, bottle shops and anything trading on a nightclub licence after 5pm.
Two related pages if the door is what you are really thinking about: can a restaurant refuse service covers what you may lawfully turn away and what you may not, and BYO licence rules in Australia covers the other alcohol question that changes at every state border.
The staff side of the same rule book is the certificate. What an RSA certificate costs in Australia covers the Queensland 30 day deadline, the five year New South Wales card, and why the same national certificate has two different shelf lives depending on which state issued it.
These rules apply because the venue holds a licence. For what obtaining one costs in the three states that publish a figure, see liquor licence cost in Australia.
When are minors allowed on licensed premises?
It depends on the state. In New South Wales minors are allowed in many licensed venues, with controls on small bars, hotels, registered clubs and packaged liquor, and a responsible adult required in restricted areas. In Queensland it is illegal for a minor to be on licensed premises unless a listed exemption applies, such as living there, working there, attending a function, or eating a meal with a supervising adult.
Can children be in a pub in Australia?
In New South Wales a child may be in many parts of a hotel with a responsible adult, but not unaccompanied in a bar area. In Queensland a child may be present while eating a meal or accompanied by an adult who is responsibly supervising them, except after 5pm on premises operating under a nightclub licence, where that exemption stops applying.
What is the fine for having a minor on licensed premises?
In Queensland a licensee or staff member can be prosecuted and fined up to A$17,270 for a non-exempt minor being on the premises. In New South Wales failing to refuse entry of a suspected minor to a small bar, hotel, registered club or licensed public entertainment venue carries a maximum of A$5,500, and on-the-spot fines are generally 10 per cent of the maximum court penalty.
What is a responsible adult under NSW liquor laws?
A parent, step-parent or guardian of the minor, the minor's spouse or de facto partner, or an adult who is standing in as the parent of the minor for the time being. Another adult at the table does not qualify simply by being there.
Can a 16 year old work in a bottle shop?
In New South Wales a minor employee who is not involved in selling or supplying liquor can work with approval from the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority, and may do logistical work such as stocking storage rooms with sealed alcohol or unloading a delivery. That work should be out of customer view, because doing it in a public area may count as a minor exposing liquor for sale, which the Liquor Act 2007 prohibits.
Does a minor get fined for drinking in a pub?
In New South Wales a minor who consumes alcohol on licensed premises faces a maximum of A$2,200, and the licensee faces A$5,500 for the minor being in a bar area. The same alcohol consumed in a public place carries a maximum penalty of A$20 under the Summary Offences Act 1988.
How many offences before a liquor licence is suspended?
In Queensland two convictions within a 2 year period across sections 155(3A), 156(1) and 156(2) suspend the licence for the premises where the latest offence happened. In New South Wales escalating sanctions apply, and 6 or more demerit points within 3 years can lead to temporary or permanent disqualification of the licensee, approved manager or club secretary, with non-club licences able to be suspended for up to 14 days.