A Fiji liquor licence belongs to a place, not to a business. The moment your dinner moves off licensed premises - to a beach, a village, a marquee on a lawn, a private island or a hired hall - the hotel's or caterer's licence stops covering it. The route for an unlicensed venue is a licence for special use under Part 7 of the Liquor Act 2006, and the single most useful thing to know is that the applicant does not have to already hold a liquor licence.
This is a guideline only. Confirm with the relevant Divisional Liquor Licensing Authority, Office of the Attorney-General; for the Central Division, the Secretary, Central Divisional Liquor Licensing Authority, P.O. Box 45, Nausori, phone 3477165. Last reviewed 22 October 2026.
What is the law, and who administers it?
The Liquor Act 2006, Act No. 8 of 2006, which repealed the former Liquor Act (Cap. 192). Two amendments matter: the Liquor (Amendment) Act 2022 extended the licence term from three years to five and allowed the Minister to exempt applicants from certain fees; the Liquor (Amendment) Act 2023, passed 14 July 2023, replaced the entire Schedule of permitted hours and removed the special zones that had allowed extended hours in parts of Suva and Nadi.
Licences are issued by a Divisional Liquor Licensing Authority - one each for the Central, Western, Northern and Eastern Divisions - established under section 5 and chaired by a magistrate, sitting with the Divisional Commissioner and three resident non-public-officer members. Appeals go to the Central Liquor Board under section 23, in writing within 21 days, and only where the decision is erroneous in point of law. The Act is assigned to the Office of the Attorney-General.
One correction worth carrying, because it appears on an official page: the Attorney-General's own liquor licensing page describes a "Liquor Tribunal" as the appeal body. That does not match section 23. Divisional Liquor Tribunals existed under the repealed Cap. 192. Rely on the Act.
Why does a licence not travel with the caterer?
Because the Act ties it to specified premises and gives no mechanism to extend it. Section 29 authorises an on-premises licensee to sell for consumption on the premises or conveyance described in the licence. Section 21 requires a licensee who wants to move a licence to other premises or a conveyance to apply in the same manner as for a new licence, with the suitability requirement and every other provision applying as if it were new. And section 22 - the provision people reach for, because it is headed "temporary licences" - applies only where licensed premises become unfit for business through alteration, repair, fire or natural disaster.
There is simply no route by which a hotel's licence stretches to a sandbar.
What is a special use licence, and who applies?
Section 49 authorises the holder to supply and sell liquor on the premises or conveyance described in the licence, to any person attending the occasion, event, or series of occasions or events described in the licence. Note the two halves: it is tied to a place and to the people attending a named event. A conveyance is expressly covered, which is what makes a vessel function workable.
Section 51 governs the application. It must be made in the name of the person who will hold the licence, in the prescribed form with the prescribed particulars and fee, and filed with the Authority for the Division where the premises are - or, for a conveyance, where the applicant's principal place of business or registered office in Fiji is. Within 7 days of filing, if the secretary of the Authority requires it, the applicant must attach a notice of the application in the approved form to a conspicuous place on or next to the site. That site notice replaces the newspaper advertising regime that applies to ordinary licences, and it is discretionary - the secretary may waive it as impracticable or unreasonable.
The applicant need not hold any other licence. That is the key practical point, and it distinguishes section 49 from section 50, the social-gathering variant, which may only be granted to the holder of an on-premises or club licence and which lets a venue serve at times sales are otherwise barred.
So the licensee for your gala dinner is whoever applies: the caterer, the hotel, the event company, the organiser or the host. The Act does not say which, so decide it deliberately and write it into your contracts - because that named person carries the liability.
Section 53 requires the secretary to send the application to "the relevant authorities", who may report back. Unlike section 27, which lists the bodies consulted for ordinary licences - Divisional Police Commanders, local and municipal authorities, the National Fire Authority, the occupational health and safety unit in the Ministry of Labour, Divisional Commissioners, Roko Tuis and advisory councils - section 53 names nobody. Police consultation on an event licence is therefore a matter of the Authority's practice, not an express statutory list.
Section 54 sets what the Authority weighs: the nature of the occasion, the applicant's suitability, the proposed days and hours, restricted or supervised areas, steps to prevent sales to prohibited persons, the availability of food and non-alcoholic options, security arrangements, and any reports received. Section 55 then sets conditions - and makes it a mandatory condition that non-alcoholic refreshments are available. Section 56 confirms the licensee is not obliged to serve anyone they reasonably believe is drunk.
Section 57 sets duration: the day or days of a single event, the period of a series, or up to 12 months for a section 50 licence. If a single event is postponed, the licence moves to the new date once the licensee notifies the Authority.
What will it cost?
We cannot tell you, and nor can anyone else from a published source. No current liquor licence fee schedule for Fiji is published anywhere. Fees are left to regulations under section 85(2), and the Liquor Regulations 2008 - which the Attorney-General's page names as the source of the prescribed form - are not available online. The Act refers to "the prescribed fee" at sections 15, 19, 25, 43 and 51 and never states an amount.
The Attorney-General's page mentions a dollar figure once, as an example, prefixed "e.g.". It is not the rate and should not be quoted as one. Get the current figure from the Secretary of the relevant Divisional Liquor Licensing Authority, and budget it as an unknown until you do.
What hours will you get?
For an event, whatever the licence says. The Schedule's standard hours govern on-premises, off-premises and club licences - published for a restaurant as 11am to 12 midnight daily, a nightclub 5pm until 1am daily, off-premises use 8am to 12 midnight daily and club use 9am to 1am daily. Hotel, tavern and bar hours sit in a row of that Schedule that does not reproduce cleanly from the available scan, so we are not stating them.
For a special use licence, section 55 requires the Authority to set hours that reflect the timing and nature of the activities, and lets it have regard to the site and any evacuation scheme. So a gala dinner's liquor hours are written into the licence, not inherited. Ask for what the programme actually needs, and ask early.
Two honest gaps. The replacement 2023 Schedule appears not to carry the Sunday, Good Friday and Christmas Day carve-outs that the original 2006 Schedule clearly did - but the available scan is poor enough that we would not assert that without a check against the printed Act. And we found no provision restricting liquor sales on election days, which is not the same as finding there is none.
The penalties, and one trap
Section 70 catches three things: selling or exposing liquor for sale without a licence authorising it; a licence holder selling it somewhere other than where it may lawfully be sold; and a licence holder selling outside permitted hours. That middle limb is the one that bites a licensed hotel serving at an unlicensed offsite venue.
| Conviction | Fine not exceeding | Imprisonment not exceeding |
|---|---|---|
| First | $5,000 | 3 years |
| Second | $8,000 | 5 years |
| Third or subsequent | $10,000 | 7 years |
Separately, section 61 makes it an offence for a licensee to sell or supply liquor to a person under 21, fine not exceeding $2,000, with a defence where qualifying identification was produced. Section 63 penalises letting an under-21 enter or remain in the bar during permitted hours unless accompanied by a responsible adult, fine not exceeding $200, with employees and sponsored trainees aged 18 to 21 exempt. Section 73 makes procuring a drink for a person reasonably believed to be drunk an offence, fine not exceeding $400.
The trap: Fiji's duty-free allowance applies from age 18, while the sale and supply age is 21. A delegate may lawfully import duty-free spirits at 19 and still not be lawfully served at your dinner. And that allowance - up to 3 litres of spirits, 4.5 litres of wine and 4.5 litres of beer, per the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service - must accompany the traveller and must not be for sale or on behalf of others, so it cannot be used to stock an event. Liquor brought in to supply a function is a commercial importation, dutiable and separate from the licence entirely.
On corkage and BYO: we found no provision in the Liquor Act 2006 addressing either, and the Regulations are unavailable - so treat corkage as a commercial matter between venue and client, and confirm with the Authority rather than assuming.
The four things to do
- Decide who the licensee will be and name them in the contract, because section 51 puts the licence in the applicant's name and the liability with it.
- Apply to the Authority for the right Division - where the premises are, or where the applicant's registered office is for a vessel.
- Ask for the hours the programme needs, in the application, under section 55.
- Get the fee from the Authority in writing, because nobody publishes it.
No Fiji Government guidance note, checklist or FAQ on offsite event liquor licensing exists that we could find. Until one does, the Act itself is the clearest thing available - and it is clearer than most people expect.
Next step: the Fiji event compliance hub covers visas, permits, customs and duty of care, insurance requirements Fiji venues will ask you for covers the cover, and bringing event equipment into Fiji handles the customs side. For venues with their own licences, see Grand Pacific Hotel Suva, Sheraton Fiji Golf & Beach Resort and Nadi Event Centre, or compare the whole country in the capacity chart.
