Before applying for a tobacco licence, you must:
Who can apply for a tobacco licence on behalf of a business?
Depending on the legal structure of your business, you will be able to apply for a tobacco licence if you are:
- A sole trader you can apply as the applicant
- A director of a corporation you can apply as the relevant person, on behalf of the corporation. You will need to upload a director consent form from all other directors of the corporation.
How do I obtain a National Police Check?
You must obtain a National Police Check within the previous 3 months and submit it as part of your licence application.
If you are the relevant person applying for a tobacco licence on behalf of a corporation, you must submit a National Police Check for yourself. All other directors of the corporation must complete a director consent form, which includes a consent for a National Police Check to be conducted during the course of assessing the licence, or if a licence is granted, during the course of the licence period.
If you are a permanent resident of NSW you can apply for a National Police Check here on the Service NSW website: Apply for a National Police Check
If you live outside NSW, you can apply for a National Police Check in your state or territory.
You should factor in the time taken to obtain a National Police Check. These can take several weeks to process.
For further information on National Police Checks, visit the NSW Police website
What class of tobacco retailer licence do I need?
A tobacco retail licence will have one of three possible licence classes:
-
retail premises
-
online
-
liquor licensed hospitality venue.
You must select only one class of licence per application.
If you want to sell tobacco or non-tobacco smoking products both over the counter and online, you will need to apply for two separate licences, even if you operate both businesses from the same premises. You must apply for a retail premises licence for your physical retail premises, and an online licence for your online retail business.
The third retail licence class option is ‘liquor licensed hospitality venue’. This is only for a business with an on-premises liquor licence (such as a bar, club, pub or hotel). If the business you are applying for a licence for only has a packaged liquor licence (such as a bottle shop or supermarket), do not select ‘liquor licensed hospitality venue’ select ‘retail premises’.
Cost of a licence and consent for partial refund if licence is refused
A fee of $1,100 applies for each tobacco licence applied for. Part of this fee is for administrative costs incurred in assessing the application.
When you apply for a tobacco licence, you also consent to a partial refund of up to $770 being considered if your licence application is refused.
Privacy Collection Notice and consent to sharing information
Please note that information relating to your tobacco licence application, including your criminal history, may be sent to the corporation email address you have provided, or otherwise communicated to the corporation to which you are a relevant person.
You also agree to the tobacco licensing Privacy Collection Notice.