As the government moves to reform the territory's Liquor Act, figures obtained by The Canberra Times show the number of liquor licences in the ACT has grown from 660 in June 2012-13 to 725 as of last week.

The figures show the government has approved an average of 50 new liquor licences issued every year for the past four financial years, but many of those were likely transfers of pre-existing licences, and surrenders or licences and new applications at the same venue.

There is currently a total of 425 "on licences", or venues like nightclubs, bars and restaurants and 207 "off licences", or takeaway outlets.

The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education's policy and research director Amy Ferguson said the rising number of approvals was at odds with the government's own strategy to reduce harm and cut the amount Canberrans are drinking.

"It's a pretty simple equation, the more alcohol that is available, the higher the risk of harm we will see in the community," she said.

A spokeswoman for Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay said the rising number of approvals were adding to the "vibrancy and diversity of our city" and contributing to jobs and the economy.

She said the Commissioner for Fair Trading also has to assess licence applications in line with the "harm minimisation and safety principles" of the Liquor Act.

Mr Ramsay's spokeswoman also said the reforms included measures to ensure licence premises were safely managed and improve the consultation process for new licences to help those "likely to have an interest" to be "made aware of the application and have an opportunity to voice any concerns".

"These measures ensure that the increase in licensed businesses in the ACT is consistent with the ACT Government's Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Strategy aims of minimising harm and building a safe and healthy community."

She said the government was also planing to introduce a new licence fee structure for licensees, which would mean smaller venues that held 150 people or less and trading no later than 2am, which presented a "lower risk of alcohol related incidents" and offered "more options for Canberrans to enjoy a night out".

But the reforms also allow all licensees other than takeaway outlets to hold six "special events" a year with extended trading hours and exempt businesses that supply "small quantities of alcohol ancillary to their main service" from the Liquor Act, such as beauty salons.

The changes would also move all licences to a "perpetual" system, freeing licensees from the time and costs of three or one year renewals, a move that would also put a stop to the Commissioner's regular review of licences at that stage.

Ms Ferguson said while the foundation supported some measures in the bill, she was disappointed that after five years of consultations and reviews "a lot of the measures that would actually go to reducing harm are not in the bill".

She said the foundation was concerned about allowing alcohol into "exempt" businesses, the extended trading hour authorisations and, particularly, the move to perpetual licences.

"Liquor licences should be a privilege to hold, not a right, [licensees] have a responsibility that at least every one or three years they are continuing to work with the standards in place and this would remove that," she said.

"Our concern is also that these are almost all red tape reduction measures and they are being dressed up as harm reduction - these are not harm reduction policies and they should be calling them what they are."

Correction: This article previously incorrectly stated the number of liquor licences issued in Canberra rose 40% in four years, the correct figure was 9.8% over that period.