We welcome the Ministry for Regulation’s Hospitality Sector Review, which targets the areas where reform can make the greatest difference, including alcohol licensing and examines how regulation works in practice.
“We welcome the review’s focus on making regulatory processes more efficient, streamlined and proportionate to risk,” said NZABC Executive Director Virginia Nicholls.
“The existing licensing system has evolved into a framework that is increasingly complex, costly and inconsistent. Businesses, councils and regulatory agencies face growing costs, lengthy processes and uncertainty in decision-making”, said Virginia.
“We support the practical reforms from the review that will make alcohol licensing simpler, more efficient and proportionate to risk, including streamlined renewals, clearer first-time licensing, consistent training, better compliance tools, stronger District Licensing Committees, fairer fees and a coherent risk-based framework,” said Virginia.
Its also important to recognise that most New Zealanders drink responsibly. The NZ Health survey [1] consistently shows that five out of six adults drink in a responsible way, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17.
New Zealanders are also drinking significantly less alcohol per person than they did in the 1980s, with long‑term data showing a sustained downward trend in alcohol available for consumption.
References:
[1] In the NZ Health survey (Nov 2025) five out of six New Zealanders (83.4%) drink beer, wine and spirits responsibly, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17. Annual Update of Key Results 2024/25: New Zealand Health Survey | Ministry of Health NZ accessed 19 November 2025. There were 9,253 adult sample size.
The rate of hazardous drinking in adults has consistently declined from 21.3% in 2020 to 16.6% this year, a reduction of 22%.
Hazardous drinkers are those who obtain an AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) score of 8 or more, representing an established pattern of drinking that carries a high risk of future damage to physical or mental health, such as how often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)
[i] In the NZ Health survey (Nov 2025) five out of six New Zealanders (83.4%) drink beer, wine and spirits responsibly, and there has been an across-the-board decline in different measures of riskier drinking as compared to 2016/17. Annual Update of Key Results 2024/25: New Zealand Health Survey | Ministry of Health NZ accessed 19 November 2025. There were 9,253 adult sample size.
The rate of hazardous drinking in adults has consistently declined from 21.3% in 2020 to 16.6% this year, a reduction of 22%.
Hazardous drinkers are those who obtain an AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) score of 8 or more, representing an established pattern of drinking that carries a high risk of future damage to physical or mental health, such as how often do you have six or more drinks on one occasion. Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)