Victorian wineries miss out on grant money on ‘technicality’

Victorian wineries are calling on the state government to revamp their hospitality assistance program and say they are being disadvantaged.

Rathbone Wine Group food and beverage director Rachael Scicluna at the restaurant at Yering Station in the Yarra Valley. Picture: Aaron Francis

Victorian wineries — having battled bushfires, survived Chinese wine tariffs and who are hanging on amid lockdown — say they are missing out on thousands of dollars in desperately needed grants.

Patron caps included on liquor licences are used by the state government to determine how much money venues can get under the $70m hospitality licensed venue fund to support businesses unable to operate amid restrictions, but most wineries have a producers licence, which does not specify capacity limits.

Under the grant rules, venues with a capacity of up to 99 patrons or “patrons not specified” can get $5000 per week, while those that can host between 100 and 499 patrons can receive $10,000 per week and premises with a capacity for 500 or more can get $20,000 per week.

Wine Victoria chairwoman Angie Bradbury said it means out of 800 wineries across the state, 200 are eligible for the lowest amount of support even though they can host hundreds of people.

“(About) 20 per cent with a producers licence have capacity for over a hundred people. We don’t believe they have been getting the right level of support based on capacity limitations,” Ms Bradbury said.

“We need the government to be able to better respond to the nuances of different industry issues,” she said. “This is a specific issue that impacts the producer licence category and there should be a better way to address this for our members.”

Ms Bradbury said Wine Victoria had attempted to notify the state government about its concerns since July – after Covid-19 restrictions put a “massive handbrake” on domestic tourism – but had not heard back.

Rathbone Wine Group operates two major wineries in Victoria – Yering Station in the Yarra Valley and Mount Langi Ghiran near Ararat in the northwest.

Rachael Scicluna, the winery’s director of food and beverage, said before Covid-19, Yering Station typically hosted between 140 and 160 people at its restaurant on a Saturday or Sunday on top of a minimum of 300 who came through their cellar door.

But it is only eligible for $5000 per week – which would not even cover the “meat man’s” bill – because the venue operates on a producers licence, considered the simplest option for wineries because it allows them to make wine and serve it.

“We are grateful for anything that has been offered up. However, we want it to be fair, why should we be disadvantaged?” Ms Scicluna said on Tuesday.

Rathbone Wine chief executive Darren Rathbone urged the government to consider using another measure. “We are running a business that could have several hundred people visit on weekends. It’s quite different to a small cafe … and we are put in the same category,” he said.

Victoria Nationals deputy Steph Ryan said the government was trying to limit the amount of funding it paid.

“The government is locking out Victorian wineries from accessing financial support on a technicality,” she said.

A Victorian government spokesman said: “The payment for venues where patron capacity is not specified – $5,000 per week – is 80 per cent higher than the base level of funding for non-licensed businesses under the comparable program.”

It’s understood Business Victoria is examining some cases where businesses believe their liquor licence classification does not reflect their actual operations.