Hospitality Review Signals Potential Regulatory Changes for Clubs

9 September 2026

Circular 26-054

Relevant for Club Committees and Management

The Ministry for Regulation has released its final Hospitality Review Report, examining the regulatory systems that apply to hospitality businesses across New Zealand, including clubs, restaurants, cafes, bars, food trucks and hotels. The review looked at whether current regulations are achieving their objectives while remaining efficient, proportionate and practical to comply with.

The report contains 24 recommendations that, if progressed, could reduce compliance costs, streamline alcohol licensing and food safety requirements, and make it easier for clubs to focus on serving their members and communities.

Why this review matters to clubs

Throughout the review, the Ministry heard concerns about complex licensing processes, duplicated information requirements, inconsistent regulatory practices, delays in decision-making, and compliance costs that are not always proportionate to risk. Clubs featured within the review's definition of the hospitality sector and many of the recommendations would apply equally to clubs holding liquor licences, operating food services, or providing transport services for members.

The report's overall vision is for a regulatory system where hospitality businesses only need to provide information once, requirements are better aligned with actual risk, and compliance processes are easier to understand and navigate.

Proposed changes to alcohol licensing

The most significant recommendations for clubs relate to the alcohol regulatory system.

The review recommends:

Streamlining and simplifying licence renewals, including longer renewal periods for lower-risk, well-performing licence holders.
Simplifying the process for obtaining a liquor licence, with clearer licensing criteria and standardised application forms.
Introducing mandatory training for licence holders, staff who serve alcohol, and regulators.
Creating additional compliance tools, such as improvement notices, to address minor issues before more serious enforcement action is required.
Allowing District Licensing Committees (DLCs) to merge and introducing greater training and support for DLC members.

In the longer term, the review proposes replacing the current liquor licence categories with a risk-based framework that would better align regulatory requirements, fees and compliance expectations with the risk profile of the premises.

For many clubs, these recommendations could reduce paperwork, improve consistency between regions, and create a more practical and proportionate licensing process.

Changes that could benefit club courtesy vans

One recommendation likely to be of particular interest to many clubs relates to courtesy transport services.

The review found that current passenger service requirements can become unnecessarily burdensome when clubs accept donations or small contributions to help cover transport costs. It recommends allowing hospitality businesses, including clubs, to receive donations to offset operating costs without triggering full passenger service licensing requirements.

This recognises the important role many clubs play in helping members travel safely and reducing the risk of drink-driving.

Food safety reforms

The report also recommends several changes to the food safety system, these include:

Simpler Food Control Plans with reduced paperwork requirements.
Removing annual and biannual food registration renewals.
Extending verification periods for high-performing businesses.
More consistent food safety verification practices across the country.
Greater alignment of fees with risk and business size.

The review notes that many businesses felt compliance requirements had become overly focused on paperwork rather than actual food safety outcomes, and recommends a more practical, risk-based approach.

A "tell us once" approach

Another strong theme throughout the report is reducing duplication.

The review found that hospitality businesses are often required to provide the same information multiple times to different regulators. It recommends developing integrated systems and ultimately moving towards a national portal where businesses can manage regulatory interactions in one place.

This "tell us once" approach would be welcomed by many clubs that regularly deal with multiple compliance and licensing processes.

What happens next?

The report's recommendations will need to be considered by relevant Ministers before decisions are made about which proposals should proceed. Any substantial changes to alcohol licensing, food safety requirements, or fee structures would require further policy development and, in many cases, legislative change.

Clubs New Zealand will continue to monitor developments closely and engage with Government where appropriate. Many of the recommendations align with issues that Clubs New Zealand has consistently raised on behalf of member clubs, including the need for proportionate regulation, reduced compliance costs, and practical approaches that recognise the unique role clubs play in their communities.

Overall, the review represents one of the most significant examinations of hospitality sector regulation in recent years and contains several proposals that, if implemented, could make it easier and more affordable for clubs to operate while continuing to meet their responsibilities around alcohol, food safety, and member wellbeing.