The application was first denied by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), which was not satisfied that "the overall social impact of the licence ... [would] not be detrimental to the well-being of the local or broader community".

Aldi Gunnedah then underwent an administrative review by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal to reconsider the prior decision, but the licence was again denied.

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The tribunal concluded that the potential harm to the community from the packaged liquor licence outweighed Aldi's argument of benefits such as greater market choice and convenience for shoppers.

"Gunnedah and Gunnedah local government areas are areas where the population is more disadvantaged than average in the state and ... they have a high Indigenous population," the tribunal said in its report.

"The harm which is likely to flow from Aldi selling packaged liquor ... while statistically small, nonetheless has the potential to be very real as it affects the community whether by means of the one-off increase in hospital admissions, an increase in alcohol-related crashes or an increase in domestic violence.

"Those impacts represent a real harm to the broader and local community: one which already has too much alcohol-related violence and too many alcohol-related crashes."

The tribunal included NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) data in its review, which stated Gunnedah has an alcohol-related domestic violence assault incident rate 1.5 times the state average, and has an alcohol-related crash casualty rate more than double the 4.3 per cent state average at 9.1 per cent.

Gunnedah police also supported the tribunal's decision to refuse the application, stating that "the number of packaged liquor outlets exceed the need of the Gunnedah community by population numbers and would be sufficient for years to come, even with continued steady growth of Gunnedah".

"The crime statistics for the Gunnedah area indicate an elevated alcohol-related crime rate with a large portion of consumption taking place in a home/private residence," the police objection stated.

"An additional packaged liquor outlet would only increase consumption by persons in the home/private residence and subsequently ... increase the risk of additional alcohol-related harms to the Gunnedah community."

The NVI contacted Aldi for comment, asking questions including whether it could or would appeal against the decision.

However, an Aldi Australia spokesperson gave a statement saying only: "We recently applied for a liquor licence for our Gunnedah store, which was subsequently denied by the Liquor Licensing Authority. This was the first time we had applied for a licence to sell liquor at this store."

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