Page 2461 - Week 07 - Thursday, 3 August 2017
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That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am very pleased to introduce the Gaming Machine (Cash Facilities) Amendment Bill 2017 into the Assembly today. This bill is itself an important part of gaming regulation. But it is also part of a broad, multi-faceted approach to reducing the impact of problem gambling. I would like to foreshadow that this government, as it has made clear, will be introducing comprehensive reform on gaming. We will be reducing the number of gaming machines in the territory. We will be examining a range of additional harm reduction rules, including pre-commitments and bet limits.
We know that we are pursuing these changes with the full support of this community. ACT Labor went to the election with a strong policy on reducing the harms from electronic poker machines. Canberra voters clearly supported a harm minimisation approach. In my first statement of ministerial priorities in this Assembly, I identified harm minimisation and assisting clubs to diversify their business models as key portfolio initiatives. This government has been consistent in its support for harm minimisation.
This government’s implementation of gaming reform will be evidence-based and shaped by consultation. What that means is that where there are data and research about how to regulate gaming to minimise harm, we will act on it. It also means that in implementing change, we are going to talk to the community about how they view those changes, to experts about how our changes align with the evidence, and to clubs and other licensees about what they can do.
Reforms have the most meaningful impacts when they are based on evidence and they are targeted to our community’s needs through consultation. Today’s bill is about the availability of cash and how it affects problem gambling. The territory limits ATM withdrawals at clubs to $250 per day. This limitation is designed to ensure that for people affected by problem gambling, there is a brake on their ability to access cash.
Earlier in the year I asked the Gambling and Racing Commission to investigate cash withdrawals at gaming venues. The commission’s audit checked compliance with existing ATM restrictions as well as looking at the accessibility of EFTPOS facilities. While the audit found that ATM controls were in the main being complied with, concerns were raised that EFTPOS cash withdrawals were being used as a means to circumvent the intent of the ATM restriction to limit the amount of cash able to be withdrawn to $250.
In response to the findings of that report, and based on consultation with clubs and the community, this bill contains amendments that will limit clubs to one EFTPOS facility where a person can withdraw cash at the premises; require that any withdrawal of cash from an EFTPOS facility must not exceed $200; require that the person operating the EFTPOS facility must be a staff member who has been trained in the responsible provision of gambling services; and require the person operating the EFTPOS facility to confirm the amount of cash to be withdrawn before it is withdrawn and to hand the cash directly to the person making the withdrawal.
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