Booze you can use: How our alcohol laws are changing

The Government's on a mission to reduce harm caused by alcohol.

Justice Minister Kiritapu Allan is planning to put forward a bill by December largely focused on booze sales, targeting licences - and that means a tilt in power.

So, how is that going to affect you and your neighbourhood? Let's start at the beginning.

2012's Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act was aimed at improving New Zealand's drinking culture and reducing the harm caused by excessive drinking.

According to the New Zealand Drug Foundation it's New Zealand's most widely consumed drug, with 19.5% of adult Kiwis drinking in a way that causes harm.

The act regulates trading hours, consent around supplying alcohol to minors and even restricts supermarket displays to a single area.

But it falls short when it comes to the balance of power between the big dogs and people like us, which is why Allan is beefing it up.

"This year I'll be introducing the part one phase approach - going to look at all the procedural barriers," she told Q+A in November.

That will happen in two stages.

The first change is to alcohol licencing - communities will get more power to oppose liquor licences. Specifically, they'll have more of a say on local rules of who sells alcohol, and how, in their neighbourhoods.

That means getting rid of formal licensing hearings, which often play out in favour of retailers with tougher lawyers that cross-examine complainants.

People who have taken part in these have reported feeling harassed and intimidated. Anti-alcohol campaigner Rawiri Ratu says this part of the bill will make a meaningful difference.

"I tried to go head-to-head with lawyers and got spanked," he says.

A big change is also coming for councils, which have struggled to block or limit the sale of alcohol, bombarded with costly legal appeals which often drag on for years.

Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch have all been caught up in long and expensive legal battles in failed attempts to introduce new alcohol policies.

Allan says her bill sets out specifically to change that.

"What we've seen over the last 10 years is a really legalistic system," she told Q+A.

The second part of Allan's bill, focusing on alcohol sponsorship and advertising, is expected in March 2023. It sets out to tackle sport, which in the past has proved difficult.

Grassroots sports get funding predominantly from grants and sponsorship connected to alcohol companies.

Allan admits while this part will be complicated, "nothing is off the table".

Her approach is fairly similar to that of Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick's Alcohol Minimisation Bill.

Allan's bill will be introduced in December, with the intention of passing it into law by mid-2023.