How to open a restaurant in Australia: the step-by-step guide

Opening a restaurant in Australia is two projects in one. The first is the fun one: the menu, the fit-out, the name above the door. The second is the one that decides whether you actually open on time: the ABN and GST registrations, the council food business registration, the certified food safety supervisor required since December 2023, the state liquor licence with its weeks of processing time, and payroll under the Restaurant Industry Award. Miss one of these and your opening date slips, sometimes by months.

The extra twist in Australia is that half the rules are federal and half are not. Food law comes from a national code but is enforced by your state and your local council; liquor licensing is purely state-based; outdoor tables depend on your council's local law. This guide puts every step in the right order, labels the state whenever a rule is state-based, and links the official source for each obligation. It ends with the part most guides skip: the tools to set up before opening night, from your Google Business Profile to a booking system that costs nothing to start with, because the first weeks of a new venue are decided by how quickly you can fill the room.

The seven jobs, in order:

1. choose a business structure and get your ABN and GST registration;
2. check the premises: planning approval and the lease;
3. register your food business with the local council;
4. comply with Standard 3.2.2A: food safety supervisor, trained handlers, records;
5. sort the liquor side: licence, RSA for the team, or a deliberate BYO model;
6. become an employer properly: award rates, penalty rates, superannuation;
7. set up your day-one tools: Google profile, website, online bookings.

Step 1: business structure, ABN and GST

Most new restaurants in Australia operate either as a sole trader or through a proprietary limited company (Pty Ltd). The difference matters more in hospitality than in many other sectors, because a restaurant carries real liabilities: a lease, suppliers, staff, equipment finance.

• Sole trader: the simplest structure to set up and run, but you are personally liable for business debts.
• Company (Pty Ltd): a separate legal entity registered with ASIC. Your personal liability is limited to what you invest, and the company pays company tax on its profits.

The official comparison of the structures is on business.gov.au's business structures page. Given the sums involved in fitting out a commercial kitchen and signing a lease, many restaurateurs with staff choose a company, but this is a conversation to have with an accountant, not a decision to copy from a blog post, ours included.

Whatever the structure, you need an Australian Business Number (ABN), the free 11-digit identifier you register through the Australian Business Register. You must also register for GST once your turnover reaches A$75,000, a threshold almost every restaurant crosses quickly, per the ATO's GST registration rules. Two GST points specific to restaurants:

• everything you serve for dining in is taxable at 10% GST, including food that would be GST-free in a supermarket; the ATO's food and beverage search tool settles any doubt;
• your menu prices must be displayed as a single GST-inclusive total. Under section 48 of the Australian Consumer Law you cannot advertise a price that excludes unavoidable charges, as the ACCC's price display guidance explains. A weekend or public holiday surcharge is allowed, but only with the single prescribed statement ("a surcharge of X% applies on...") displayed at least as prominently as the most prominent price on the menu.

To find every licence and permit that applies to your exact address and concept, run a search on ABLIS, the government's licence finder covering federal, state and council requirements in one place.

Step 2: check the premises before you sign anything

A lease is much harder to change than a menu, so verify two things before signing.

Planning approval: is the building allowed to be a restaurant?

Land use is governed by state planning schemes and administered by councils. If the premises was not previously a food business, changing its use to a restaurant may require a development application (DA in NSW, planning permit in VIC), and adding kitchen extraction, extra seating or late trading hours can trigger one even in an existing food premises. Processing times vary wildly between councils, from weeks to many months, so ask the council's planning department before you commit, and make the lease conditional on the approvals you need.

Kitchen extraction is the classic project killer here too: installing a new duct through an existing building can require the landlord's consent, a planning approval, or both. A tired unit with working extraction and grease trap is often a better buy than a beautifully refitted one without them.

Outdoor tables need their own permit

Footpath dining is a council permit, everywhere, and it is never automatic. The City of Sydney requires an approval to serve food and drink on the footway under its outdoor dining policy; the City of Melbourne issues footpath dining permits under its local law, with published processing times of several weeks (see its hospitality business permits page). If your business plan counts on twenty outdoor covers, get the permit conditions in writing before you sign the lease, not after.

Step 3: register your food business with the council

Every restaurant must be registered with (or notified to) the local council before trading. The mechanics are state-based: in NSW you notify your food business through the council, in VIC you register under the Food Act 1984 with a class assigned by risk, in QLD you need a food business licence. ABLIS lists the exact form for your council; the fee and the lead time vary, so do this weeks before opening, not days.

The council is also your inspector. Environmental health officers inspect after you open, and your file starts with the registration. In NSW, participating councils also run Scores on Doors, a voluntary hygiene star-rating program based on the mandatory inspections; the NSW Food Authority's business guide explains how the stars are awarded. Voluntary or not, a visible five-star certificate in the window is free marketing, so it pays to prepare for the first inspection as if the sticker were going up.

Step 4: food safety under Standard 3.2.2A

Since 8 December 2023, the national food code's Standard 3.2.2A imposes three concrete obligations on restaurants and caterers, which FSANZ classifies as category one businesses (they process unpackaged, potentially hazardous food into ready-to-eat meals):

1. a certified food safety supervisor, reasonably available whenever food is handled, whose certificate must have been obtained within the past five years, then refreshed;
2. trained food handlers: every staff member who handles food must complete food safety training or be able to demonstrate equivalent skills before starting;
3. records: you must be able to substantiate that the critical controls (receiving, storage, processing, display, transport, cleaning) are actually managed, which in practice means keeping simple written or digital records.

The standard is national, but enforcement is state and council-based, and some states layer their own rules on top (NSW, for example, has long required a trained Food Safety Supervisor certificate through its own scheme). Book the supervisor course before the fit-out is finished: it is cheap, it is quick, and an inspector will ask for the certificate on the first visit.

Step 5: liquor licence, RSA, and the BYO question

A state licence, always

There is no national liquor licence: each state and territory has its own regulator, licence categories, fees and processing times. A restaurant typically applies for an on-premises or restaurant-category licence in its state; in Victoria, the dedicated restaurant and cafe licence authorises serving alcohol with or without a meal to seated patrons. Processing takes weeks to months everywhere, community objections can slow it further, and trading before the licence is granted is an offence. Apply as early as your lease allows.

RSA for everyone who serves

Anyone who sells or serves alcohol needs Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) certification, and the certification is state-specific: a NSW venue needs NSW-approved RSA training with a competency card, per Liquor & Gaming NSW, and other states run their own schemes with limited mutual recognition. When you hire an experienced waiter from interstate, check whether their RSA is valid in your state before their first shift.

BYO and corkage, a distinctly Australian institution

Australia is one of the few countries where bring your own is a normal, respectable way to run a restaurant. Generations of suburban Thai, Vietnamese, Italian and Indian restaurants have built their model on guests bringing a bottle and paying a modest corkage fee per bottle or per head. For a new operator, BYO is a genuine strategic option: no licence application delay, no stockholding, and a value message guests love. In Victoria it is formalised: a BYO permit lets guests drink their own wine at your venue but does not allow you to sell any alcohol, and Victoria advises applying at least 11 weeks ahead. Many restaurants eventually run both: a licence plus an advertised corkage policy, capturing the guests a wine-list-only policy would turn away.

Step 6: becoming an employer under the award

Hospitality pay in Australia is set by modern awards, for most restaurants the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 (MA000119), or the Hospitality Industry (General) Award for some venues; the Fair Work Ombudsman's restaurant industry page is the reference. The numbers every founder should have in the business plan:

• the national minimum wage is A$26.44 per hour from 1 July 2026 (A$1,004.90 per week), per the Fair Work Ombudsman's annual wage review summary; award classifications sit above it;
• penalty rates: under the Restaurant Award, full-time and part-time staff earn around 125% on Saturdays, 150% on Sundays and 225% on public holidays, with casuals higher still (up to 250% on public holidays) once their loading is included. Weekend trade is your busiest and your most expensive at the same time: build it into the roster maths, not as a surprise;
• penalty rates are not going away: since 30 August 2025, the Fair Work Act expressly prevents awards from reducing or rolling up penalty and overtime rates, per the Fair Work Ombudsman;
• add superannuation on top of gross wages, and workers compensation insurance through your state scheme.

One cultural point that surprises founders arriving from North America: tipping is not customary in Australia. Staff earn full award wages, so your menu prices must carry the entire cost of service. There is no "tipped wage" to plan around, and no reason to import one into your forecasts.

Step 7: know the market you are entering

Australia is a crowded, competitive market: IBISWorld counts about 30,600 restaurant businesses in Australia in 2026, before adding the tens of thousands of cafes and coffee shops competing for the same meal occasions. Differentiation and repeat business decide who survives year two.

On the payments side, note one dated change for your pricing model: from 1 October 2026, surcharging card payments on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa is banned under the RBA's new rules, so card acceptance costs must be built into menu prices rather than added at the till; our guide to restaurant surcharges in Australia covers what remains legal, including weekend and public holiday menu surcharges.

The launch timeline: from six months out to opening night

Every project moves at its own pace, especially depending on the fit-out and the state, but this is the backbone of an opening that does not slip.

The logic throughout: front-load everything with an incompressible delay (planning approval, the liquor licence, the 11-week Victorian BYO permit, financing, fit-out) and keep the fine-tuning for the end. It is always a forgotten form that delays an opening, never the colour of the banquettes.

Day-one tools: your restaurant must exist online before it opens

This is the chapter compliance guides skip, and it decides your first weeks of revenue.

Create your Google Business Profile before opening, not after. It is the first place future guests will look ("restaurant + your suburb"), and verification can take time. A complete profile with photos, hours and an opening date puts you on Google Maps from day one; our guide to setting up a Google Business Profile for your restaurant walks through every step.

Put a simple website live. One page with the menu, hours, address and a booking button is enough to start; our restaurant website guide shows what actually matters. What counts is existing somewhere you own, not only on social networks.

Open online bookings two or three weeks before opening night. This is the most underrated lever of a successful launch: announcing "bookings open" ahead of the date converts local curiosity into confirmed covers for week one, and a soft opening with a real booking sheet tells you exactly how many covers your kitchen can handle. If you are comparing tools, our overview of restaurant booking systems in Australia maps the local market.

This launch moment is exactly what the free version of ViteUneTable is built for: in an opening budget where every dollar is spoken for, your online booking module costs nothing, with 0% commission, no per-booking fees, automatic confirmation emails and no lock-in contract. Let's be honest: on opening week you do not yet need advanced features. The free plan covers the launch, and you can move to the Standard pack (29 € excl. VAT per month) or add Anti No-Show (49 € excl. VAT per month) once the volume justifies it.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to open a restaurant in Australia?

Be wary of any universal figure: rent, bond, fit-out and equipment vary so much between taking over an equipped suburban unit and building out a shell in a Sydney or Melbourne CBD that a single number is meaningless. The honest method is a forecast built with an accountant, line by line (fit-out, licence fees, equipment, three to six months of cash reserve), because almost no restaurant runs at cruising speed in month one.

What licences do I need to open a restaurant in Australia?

At minimum: an ABN, GST registration once turnover passes A$75,000, food business registration with your local council, and compliance with Standard 3.2.2A (certified food safety supervisor, trained handlers, records). Add a state liquor licence if you serve alcohol, a footpath dining permit for outdoor tables, and possibly a planning approval for the premises itself. ABLIS lists the exact set for your address.

Do I need an RSA to serve alcohol?

Yes. Everyone who sells or serves alcohol at a licensed venue needs Responsible Service of Alcohol certification, and it is state-specific: NSW requires NSW-approved training and a competency card, per Liquor & Gaming NSW, and each other state runs its own scheme. Check validity when hiring staff from interstate.

Can I open a restaurant without a liquor licence?

Yes, and many do. You can trade fully alcohol-free, or run a BYO model where guests bring their own wine and you charge corkage. In Victoria, BYO requires its own BYO permit, which does not allow any alcohol sales and takes around 11 weeks to process. Plenty of successful restaurants start BYO and add a licence once the concept is proven.

How long does it take to open a restaurant in Australia?

Plan for roughly six months to a year from decision to opening. The incompressible delays to anchor your timeline around: any planning approval or DA (weeks to months, council-dependent), the state liquor licence or the 11-week Victorian BYO permit, the fit-out itself, and council food business registration before trading.

Do restaurant staff in Australia rely on tips?

No. Tipping is not customary in Australia because staff earn full award wages: the national minimum wage is A$26.44 per hour from 1 July 2026, and the Restaurant Industry Award adds penalty rates on weekends and public holidays. Unlike in the United States, there is no lower "tipped wage", so menu prices carry the full cost of service.