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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 6 Hansard (19 June) . . Page.. 1790 ..
MRS CARNELL (Chief Minister and Treasurer) (10.32): Mr Speaker, I present the Gaming Machine (Amendment) Bill (No. 2) 1997 [No. 2], together with its explanatory memorandum.
Title read by Clerk.
MRS CARNELL: I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, this Bill amends the Gaming Machine Act 1987 to strengthen the accountability and reporting requirements of clubs in regard to their community contributions and club investments, and provides for the tabling of an annual report on community contributions by clubs in the Legislative Assembly by the relevant Minister. Mr Speaker, other minor amendments are also proposed dealing with the installation and technical evaluation of gaming machines.
As I foreshadowed in the presentation of the previous Gaming Machine Bill introduced into this Assembly, the proposals contained in this Bill are the next step in a package of amendments that seek to ensure that all clubs provide adequate information on their operations, strengthen their accountability and reporting requirements, and are genuinely committed to supporting the Canberra community. Mr Speaker, one of the major findings of the report to the Government by the joint industry-government working party on the ACT club industry was the lack of requirements for clubs to be fully accountable for their operations and to provide detailed information to the Revenue Office under the Gaming Machine Act. This lack of detailed financial statistics from clubs makes it difficult to obtain an accurate picture of the industry's performance, in particular, how clubs' funds are being spent, especially to community groups. Mr Speaker, this proposal is considered necessary, therefore, to enhance the transparency and accountability of clubs and provide clear evidence on the level of commitment of clubs to their members and to the wider community generally.
Mr Speaker, from 1 July 1997, a gaming machine licensee will be required to keep a record of all contributions donated to a charitable organisation, or for a charitable purpose, during a financial year. This is to include the name of the charitable organisation, the purpose for and the amount of the contribution. Mr Speaker, in addition to the club's income and expenditure statement relating specifically to the operation of gaming machines currently required under the Act, a licensed club will now also be required to prepare and lodge a statement on its overall financial operations. This would provide a high level of scrutiny on the club's various sources of income derived from gaming profits and, importantly, a wide range of expenditures incurred by the clubs.
Mr Speaker, club licensees will be required, within one month after the end of the financial year, to provide the commissioner with a copy of the record I previously mentioned, together with a report specifying any contributions made by the licensee kept in that record, the proportion of the total gross revenue that is taken from gaming machines, or the proportion of that gross revenue that is derived from gaming machines,
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