Only a handful of days restrict trading, and restaurants are exempt from most of them: in New South Wales restaurants and cafes are listed as exempt shops, but section 7(2) lets you staff the day only with people who freely elected to work it.
Skai Solutions answers the phone for restaurants, cafes and takeaways in Australia and New Zealand, so we take the calls that go unanswered on Good Friday morning while a manager is reading a government page. Almost everything written on this topic is written for retail. This is the hospitality version, built from the Acts and the regulators themselves, read on 15 October 2026.
Most public holidays carry no trading restriction at all. A handful do, and they are not the same list on both sides of the Tasman.
| Day | New South Wales | New Zealand |
|---|---|---|
| Good Friday | Restricted trading day | Restricted trading day |
| Easter Sunday | Restricted trading day | Restricted trading day, unless a council policy allows it |
| Anzac Day | Restricted before 1pm only | Restricted until 1.00pm |
| Christmas Day | Restricted trading day | Restricted trading day |
| Boxing Day | Restricted trading day | No restriction |
In New South Wales that list is section 3(1) of the Retail Trading Act 2008, and section 4(1)(c) spells out the Anzac Day rule: shops must be closed at all times before 1pm, and the restriction does not apply after it. In New Zealand the list sits with MBIE, and Boxing Day is simply not on it.
Yes, in both countries, but on different terms, and the terms are the part that catches people.
In New South Wales, section 7(1) exempts a shop whose predominant business is a kind listed in Schedule 1. Restaurants, cafes and kiosks are listed. So are take-away food and drink shops and cooked provision shops. You do not need to apply for anything and you do not need a certificate. If food service is what you predominantly do, you are exempt by operation of the Act.
New Zealand frames it as a condition on what you sell rather than on what kind of shop you are. MBIE's position is that restaurants, cafes and takeaway bars may open if they sell only food and drink that is ready to eat immediately in the form it is sold, and it names coffee from those premises and from coffee carts as included. The practical effect of that wording is narrower than operators expect. Your kitchen can trade on Good Friday. Your retail shelf of packaged beans, bottled sauce and branded merchandise cannot, because none of that is ready to eat in the form it is sold.
Being an exempt shop is not unconditional. Section 7(2) of the Retail Trading Act says that on a restricted trading day an exempt shop may be staffed only by people who have freely elected to work that day, without coercion. Then section 7(3) closes the obvious loophole: being rostered, or being required to work by an industrial instrument, does not by itself count as freely electing.
Read that twice, because it inverts the normal order of things. On Good Friday and Christmas Day your roster is not the instrument that puts someone on shift in New South Wales. Their own election is. An award clause that allows you to roster a casual does not satisfy section 7(3) either, because an industrial instrument is exactly what the subsection excludes.
What to do about it is simple and takes ten minutes. Ask in writing, before you build the roster, who wants the day. Keep the replies. Build the roster from the people who said yes. If you cannot staff the day from volunteers, that is the Act telling you something, and the answer is shorter hours or a smaller menu rather than a roster you cannot defend.
| Offence | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
| NSW: keeping a shop open on a restricted trading day, s 5(1) | 100 penalty units |
| NSW: publishing that a shop required to be closed will be open, s 6 | 50 penalty units |
| NSW: failing to comply with an exemption condition, s 14 | 50 penalty units |
| NZ: a shop opening unlawfully on a restricted day | NZ$1,000, on the occupier |
A New South Wales penalty unit is $110, set by section 17 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 and confirmed in the Judicial Commission of NSW Sentencing Bench Book. Doing the arithmetic ourselves, that puts the section 5(1) maximum at A$11,000, and the section 14 maximum, the one that applies to an exempt restaurant that got the staffing condition wrong, at A$5,500.
The New Zealand figure is smaller and lands differently. MBIE states the fine is up to NZ$1,000 for the occupier, and that the occupier includes any agent, manager or supervisor acting in control of the shop. So in New Zealand the duty manager who opened the doors is inside the definition, not just the company.
Shop trading rules and liquor trading hours are two separate regimes, and the liquor one is usually the one that actually constrains a restaurant. Victoria publishes its rules clearly, so we use it as the worked example here, and Victoria's own guidance for licensees is the source.
Here is the number to diarise. If you want to serve alcohol before noon on Anzac Day in Victoria you need a temporary limited licence, it is granted only for events that relate to Anzac Day commemorations and are consistent with the solemn observance of the day, it needs a letter from your local RSL or RSL Victoria, and the application can take up to 8 weeks to process. An Anzac Day dawn service breakfast is a February decision, not an April one.
Every one of those hours is ultimately as written on your own licence, because Victoria's guidance says so in terms. Read the licence before you read any guide, including this one.
Four things, none of which take long.
This page is general information about published rules, not legal advice, and trading hours legislation changes. Check your own state regulator and your own liquor licence before you open.
These are the days your phone rings hardest and your floor is thinnest. Every caller wants the same two facts, whether you are open and until when, and on Good Friday and Anzac Day morning they are ringing everyone on the strip until someone answers. Skai Solutions answers the phone for restaurants, cafes and takeaways in Australia and New Zealand, gives callers your actual hours for that day, takes the booking and puts it where your team will see it, with setup taking about five days. If your phone mostly carries enquiries rather than bookings, a basic message-taking plan is the right buy and it is not us.
Can a restaurant open on Good Friday in Australia?
In New South Wales yes. Section 7(1) of the Retail Trading Act 2008 exempts shops whose predominant business is listed in Schedule 1, and restaurants, cafes and kiosks are listed, as are take-away food and drink shops. The exemption is automatic, with no application. Other states have their own trading hours legislation, and your liquor licence sets separate hours again.
What are the restricted trading days in New South Wales?
Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Anzac Day before 1pm, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, under section 3(1) of the Retail Trading Act 2008. Section 4(1)(c) requires shops to be closed at all times before 1pm on Anzac Day, and the restriction does not apply after 1pm that day.
Can you make staff work on a restricted trading day in NSW?
Not by rostering them. Section 7(2) says an exempt shop may be staffed on a restricted trading day only by people who have freely elected to work it, without coercion, and section 7(3) says being rostered, or being required by an industrial instrument, does not by itself count as freely electing. Ask in writing before you build the roster and keep the replies.
Can a cafe open on Good Friday in New Zealand?
Yes, on a condition about what you sell. MBIE's position is that restaurants, cafes and takeaway bars may open if they sell only food and drink that is ready to eat immediately in the form it is sold, which includes coffee from those premises and from coffee carts. Packaged retail stock on your shelf is not covered by that.
What is the fine for opening on a restricted trading day?
In New South Wales the maximum for keeping a shop open is 100 penalty units under section 5(1), and a penalty unit is $110, so A$11,000. Failing to comply with an exemption condition carries 50 units, or A$5,500. In New Zealand the maximum is NZ$1,000 and it falls on the occupier, which MBIE says includes any agent, manager or supervisor in control of the shop.
Can a restaurant serve alcohol on Anzac Day morning in Victoria?
Not before noon, unless exempt. Victoria's guidance for licensees says a restaurant and cafe licence, club licence, late night licence, renewable limited licence or BYO permit cannot trade between 3am and 12 noon on 25 April. RSL clubs and sub-branches are among the exemptions, and a temporary limited licence for an Anzac Day commemorative event is another.
How long does a temporary limited licence take in Victoria?
Up to 8 weeks to process, by Victoria's own statement. It is granted only where the event relates to Anzac Day commemorative activities and is consistent with the solemn observance of the day, and you need a letter from your local RSL or RSL Victoria unless you are applying as an RSL club or sub-branch.
Is Easter Sunday a restricted trading day in New Zealand?
Yes, and it is not a public holiday, which is a separate thing. A city or district council may adopt a local policy allowing shops in its area, or part of it, to trade on Easter Sunday, and must notify MBIE once it does. That policy does not allow trading on Christmas Day, Good Friday or Anzac Day before 1pm.