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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 7 Hansard (27 June) . . Page.. 2015 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

I recall that in my original motion, which I obviously do not have with me right now, I was looking at the regulator's capacity to monitor trends of use. I do not know if that is addressed in the report-I have only had time to quickly skim the report. I think that is a really critical issue if we are to have a fuller understanding of the implications, as members of the government say we need to do. So I would like to have time to look at this report so I can address and respond to it in a reasonable way.

Mr Humphries: That is fine.

MS TUCKER: Mr Humphries says that is fine. I will not continue to speak if the government is happy to support the adjournment of the debate to the next sitting week.

Mr Humphries: I did not say that.

MS TUCKER: You did not say that?

Mr Humphries: No. You want time to look at it. We have got until the end of this week, otherwise we cannot issue any licences until August.

MS TUCKER: Mr Humphries has said that he will support an adjournment until the end of this sitting week. Obviously I will have to accept that as I do not think I am going to be able to get the debate adjourned until the next sitting week. I will seek leave to speak again at a later time this week-and it sounds as if that will be Thursday.

MR SMYTH (Minister for Urban Services) (3:47): Mr Deputy Speaker, the Assembly put three questions to the Gambling and Racing Commission and it would appear that the Gambling and Racing Commission has come back and recorded that all is well. The Assembly firstly asked for a report on the adequacy of the ACT legislation. The commissioner has concluded that the current legislation governing interactive gambling is adequate in its current form.

We then asked the commission to report on the adequacy of the commissioner's powers and resources. The commissioner has reported that he believes he has adequate powers, and I note in the response that he is already having discussions with the minister about resources. So the government is keen to ensure that the commission is resourced to do its job appropriately.

The third thing that the Assembly asked the commission for was a report on progress towards a code of practice for the gambling industry. This subject is covered quite well in the report. The commission said:

responsible gambling

dealings involving player's accounts

advertising

fairness and

complaint handling.

It will take time to put such a code together. The commission concludes:

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