Auckland Council has unanimously voted for off-licences to stop selling alcohol after 9pm, setting a date for the changes.
Supermarkets and liquor stores will be required to implement the change from December 9 this year.
The Auckland Local Alcohol Policy, approved by council on Thursday, will also see a two-year freeze on new bottle shops opening in some town centres from September 16.
The council says the new rules will reduce alcohol-related harm.
Before voting, Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson spoke on the 10-year legal battle with Woolworths and Foodstuffs, which delayed the policy's implementation.
"There's a colloquial saying 'good things take time' - in this case 4917 days."
Community advocates in attendance from Communities Against Alcohol Harm, Ōtara Gambling and Alcohol Action Group, and Turehou Māori Wardens cheered and clapped after the alcohol policy was approved.
Mayor Wayne Brown was absent from the vote but arrived immediately after. Simpson confirmed he had been speaking at the Building Nations Infrastructure Conference.
Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor Angela Dalton criticised supermarket chains that opposed the policy.
"It's unacceptable to make profit out of harm to vulnerable people."
The vote was a milestone for Auckland and would set a precedent for other councils across the country, she said.
Manukau Ward councillor Lotu Fuli said alcohol was too accessible and was driving anti-social behaviour.
"Nowadays, liquor stores are everywhere. In my ward there's 40 liquor stores."
She said shutting liquor stores earlier would keep owners and their employees safe.
"I'm not villainising the liquor stores, and the owners have families as well. But I see this as trying to look out for their benefit - to keep them safe."
