Victorian Government Proposes Sweeping Reforms To Tackle Poker Machine Harm
Thursday 21 September 2017 @ 10.37 a.m. | Torts, Damages & Civil Liability | Trade & Commerce
On Tuesday (19 September 2017) the Victorian Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation, Marlene Kairouz (the Minister) introduced into the Victorian Legislative Assembly the Gambling Regulation Amendment (Gaming Machine Arrangements) Bill 2017 (Vic) (the Bill). The proposed legislation has been described as part of a "sweeping raft of changes" - a key element of which is a $500 a day cap on EFTPOS withdrawals in the bid to tackle gambling harm in Victoria.
Bill in Detail
The purpose of the Bill is stated as being "to make special provision for gaming machine entitlements that take effect on or after 16 August 2022 and to make further miscellaneous amendments to Gambling Regulation Act 2003 (Vic), the Casino Control Act 1991 (Vic) and the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation Act 2011."
The Bill proposes the imposition of strict withdrawal limits at gaming venues and added restrictions on poker machine numbers in regions most affected by gambling.
Further, as already mentioned, the Bill will limit EFTPOS cash withdrawals at gaming venues in Victoria to $500 within a 24 hour period, and the practice of cashing cheques at gaming venues is to be banned.
Municipal areas with full regional caps on machine numbers are extended from 11 to 17 and now include Brimbank, Hume, Central Goldfields, East Gippsland, Wellington and Maroondah. New regional caps will also cover areas in the municipalities of Frankston and Wyndham.
The Bill is also putting forward proposed legislation that address the emergence of cashless gaming by:
- Banning the purchase of cashless gaming tickets or credits with a credit card;
- Banning any encouragement of players receiving winnings in the form of cashless gaming tickets or credits; and
- Creating new powers to impose limits on cashless gaming; such as, limits on the amount that can be loaded on to a card or ticket and the amount that can be exchanged for cash.
Government's Overall Plans
The Bill is said by the Government to be the latest in "... a raft of gambling harm minimisation measures" which include:
- Banning all static betting advertising on public transport, roads and within 150 metres of all schools;
- New powers to ban or impose conditions on exotic forms of betting; and
- Capping the number of gaming machine entitlements in Victoria at 27,372 and the maximum number of gaming machines in a single venue at 105 for the next 25 years.
Reaction and Comment
In a media release the Minister has said that the changes are about protection and helping people stick to their limits:
The Minister states that the Government has ". . . already taken strong action to reduce the harm from gambling on our community – and these measures go even further.”
The Herald Sun reports that the changes have been attacked by the Victorian InterChurch Gambling Taskforce who it says, warns that the changes do not go far enough. The Chair of the Taskforce, Dr Mark Zirnsak is reported as being “disappointed” that the changes around cashless gaming tickets pave the way for the new payments system to be extended to the suburbs.
The $500 cap was also criticised as being too high and therefore not likely to have much effect:
On the banning of cheques the view was expressed that such a measure also had little
effect since ". . . most venues no longer accepted cheques and [so] banning them at
venues was a no brainer."
Next Steps
The Bill is in its early stages, having reached its second reading in the Assembly on Wednesday 20 September 2017 and is likely to raise some controversy in its passage. It will be one to watch as and when it goes through the whole parliamentary process.
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Sources:
Gambling Regulation Amendment (Gaming Machine Arrangements) Bill 2017 [VIC] and supporting materials as reported in the TimeBase LawOne Service
Announcement regarding gaming machine arrangements (Media Release)
