Page 2463 - Week 07 - Thursday, 3 August 2017
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The bill also includes a technical amendment to the existing exemptions to the ATM cash withdrawal limits in section 153A of the Gaming Machine Act. This technical amendment amends the way the exemptions are drafted to better reflect changes made by the Gaming Machine (Reform) Amendment Act 2015. The effect of the provision is the same.
The community clearly has an interest in these measures commencing sooner rather than later. Clubs already have staff trained in the responsible provision of gambling services, and the amendments will commence on 1 September 2017 to provide clubs with time to comply with the new requirements.
The restrictions on EFTPOS withdrawals are based on the principle that restricting the available cash to gamblers while they are gambling will reduce harm. Limiting this access will mean that overspending becomes less likely. The amendments I am introducing today mean that people will need to take a break and interact with a trained staff member if they wish to withdraw more cash.
These amendments represent just one of a number of important reforms the government is implementing to support gambling harm minimisation. These new rules, and all of the government’s harm minimisation measures to come, will be evidence based. They will be targeted to this community’s needs through consultation with the community, with experts, with clubs and with other licensees.
Today’s bill and the work that led to its development represent a clear direction towards harm minimisation. As I outlined earlier, the election and everything we know about Canberra’s attitudes towards gaming show us that harm minimisation is something that Canberrans support. Our consultation, our consideration of the evidence, and our engagement with the community is and will continue to be focused on reducing the impacts of problem gambling. Harm minimisation is the cornerstone of the government’s policy.
This bill, like the rest of our gaming machine reforms, lives up to the government’s commitments, and it lives up to the expectations of our community on gambling reform. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Debate (on motion by Mr Parton) adjourned to the next sitting.
Independent legal arbiters—publication of reports
MS BURCH (Brindabella) (12.00): I move:
That:
(1) the report of the Independent Legal Arbiter appointed in relation to the call for the release of the AECOM Infrastructure Report be authorised for publication; and
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