Have your say on the exposure draft of the updated regulations that control on-airport activities like the sale and consumption of liquor, gambling and vehicle movements at leased federal airports.
Why we want your input
Your input will ensure the regulations are up-to-date, appropriate, and there are no unforeseen and unintended consequences in the way they are written.How you can voice your opinion
Please read the exposure draft of the remade regulations and explanatory statement summary and upload your submission by using the 'Have your Say' button below, or email your response to QSANTairports@infrastructure.gov.au.What will be the outcome of this consultation?
Your submission will help inform the updated regulations and enable them to be remade before they expire on 1 April 2026.The Issue
The Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 1997 are due to expire (also known as 'sunsetting') on 1 April 2026. We have released an exposure draft of the replacement regulations and are seeking feedback on these before they are finalised to ensure there are no unforeseen or unintended consequences in the way they are written. The regulations control liquor, commercial trading, vehicle movements, gambling and smoking at leased federal airports, and an infringement notice scheme to support their enforcement.
Sunsetting is an automatic repeal of instruments after a fixed period under the Legislation Act 2003 so they remain fit-for-purpose and only in force for as long as required. We previously undertook public consultation on the regulations in late 2022 to inform the development of this exposure draft.
The exposure draft aims to strike the right balance between ensuring competitive neutrality between on- and off-airport activities while standardising the regulation of on‑airport activities (to the extent possible) across jurisdictions. There are a number of updates including:
- Reviewing and updating references to, and any modification of, relevant state laws as applied by the Commonwealth Places (Application of Laws) Act 1970,and relevant territory laws
- Substantial clarification of the technical operation of provisions for vehicles and gambling
- Making technical updates to the infringement notice scheme outlined in the regulations
- Clarifying how the regulations apply to Sydney West Airport (also known as Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport), to ensure controlled activities are generally regulated in a manner consistent with other airports, both in New South Wales and more broadly, for liquor, commercial trading arrangements, and gambling, ahead of Sydney West Airport's expected opening by late 2026
- Transitioning oversight of the control of liquor activities at leased federal airports in New South Wales to the relevant state regulator, in a manner consistent with the approach taken in other states and territories.
We are seeking feedback from stakeholders and industry and anyone with an interest in this matter. Your submission will help us finalise the updated regulations for consideration by the Australian Government, ahead of the sunsetting date on 1 April 2026.
We thank everyone who provided submissions in late 2022 to inform this process and the exposure draft.
Relevant documentation
Participate
14 Oct 2025 11:00 AEDT
18 Nov 2025 17:00 AEDT
Open
days
remaining 34 of 35
We invite you to tell us your views on this topic.
Please include:
- contact name
- organisation name, if applicable
- contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
- confirmation whether or not your submission can be made public—published—or kept confidential.
All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.
If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you don't want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Please click on the 'Have your say now' button below to upload your submission.
Alternatively, please email your submission to QSANTairports@infrastructure.gov.au.
Privacy Collection Notice
Airports (Control of On-Airport Activities) Regulations 2025—Exposure Draft
Your submission, including any personal information supplied, is being collected by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (the Department) in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.
Use
The department may use your submission to inform the final regulations for government consideration, and consideration of any potential future reforms to the regulations.
Disclosure
The department may publish your submission as explained below. Otherwise your submission will not be disclosed unless authorised or required by law.
Contacting you
The department may use your contact information to make further contact with you about your submission and the consultation process.
Publication
Unless marked confidential (see below) submissions (including the author's name) may be published in part or full on the department's website or in any public response by the department. When publishing, the department will redact any personal contact details of the author.
Confidentiality
Confidential submissions will not be published and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister
- where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
- where necessary in the public interest, or
- where authorised or required by law.
Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you must indicate this by ensuring your submission is clearly marked confidential. Even if a submission is not marked confidential, the department may choose not to publish it, or any part of it, in the department's discretion (for example where it includes personal information or opinions about a third party).
Access
The department will securely store your personal information and the department's privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the department. Further information is available at Privacy | Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.