IT IS one small step for bar owners and one giant leap for Sydney's bar scene. This week officials will assess Sydney's first small bar licences since a radical overhaul of NSW liquor laws 12 months ago.

The owners of pint-sized Small Bar and SizeMatters, in inner-city Erskine Street, will meet staff at the Casino, Liquor and Gaming Control Authority on Thursday and are confident they will finally be handed their licences.

"My understanding is we should see the approval on the 27th. We have already sent out our invites for the grand opening on December 4," said Small Bar co-owner Luke Heard, who submitted his application in August.

"I am familiar with the old licensing laws and I can tell you [now] it's a lot simpler and a lot cheaper."

Under the old system, Mr Heard would pay up to $15,000 for a liquor licence and up to $50,000 in consultants' fees to complete a complex social-impact assessment.

Under the news laws, the licence costs $500 and he did his own community-impact assessment, paperwork free. The City of Sydney also charged $1500 to process his development application, bringing the cost of the process to just $2000.

"It really is very exciting to be the first," said Peter Loxton, from the neighbouring prospective venue SizeMatters. He hopes it will attract "the quiet-drink-after-work crowd".

"I think because the process is more friendly, more will go for these small bar licences."

Both bar owners complained of having to notify neighbours twice - once as part of the development application and once as part of the licence application. But Gaming and Racing Minister Kevin Greene said alcohol licensing required a high degree of consultation.

"The recent level of interest shown by the NSW community in the rise of alcohol-related violence demonstrates just how critical an issue this is for residents," he said.

The architect of Victoria's liquor licensing laws, John Nieuwenhuysen, said a proliferation of small bars in Melbourne since the 1990s had not increased alcohol-fuelled violence.