Page 1675 - Week 05 - Thursday, 11 May 2017
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proportion of the community which is seriously harmed as a result of gambling, whether they are the person gambling or are the he people who are affected by someone’s gambling.
I recognise and acknowledge that in recent months several members of the Canberra community have bravely spoken about their experiences with gambling and gaming machine addiction. The government has implemented a number of strategies to address the harms and the risks associated with gambling. Clubs are required to ensure that they have a gambling contact officer appointed for the facility, and the gambling contact officer is the key point of contact for staff and patrons seeking information about gambling harm and dealing with gambling harm issues. A club is also required to keep records of anyone in their venue who shows signs of having a gambling problem and the action taken.
The ACT online gambling exclusion scheme provides a means for people to exclude themselves from gambling at any or all licensed venues in the ACT if they wish. The gambling counselling and support service is a free service offering confidential face-to-face, telephone and online counselling services for people experiencing gambling harm as well as for the family or friends of those who may be experiencing harm. All staff involved in the provision of gambling services must have undertaken an approved responsible conduct of gambling training program within the past three years.
The ACT problem gambling assistance fund is used to alleviate problem gambling and gambling harm as well as conducting research on negative impacts of gambling. It receives in excess of $1.1 million a year from gaming machine licensees, Casino Canberra, and TABCorp ACT.
Each gaming machine licensee is audited regularly by Access Canberra on behalf of the Gambling and Racing Commission, and the commission can impose a range of disciplinary actions for breaches of the Gaming Machine Act, including imposing conditions on licences, financial penalties, and suspension or cancellation of the gaming machine licence or certificate of authorisation.
Consistent with the parliamentary agreement, the government has a significant harm minimisation policy agenda which will consider the most effective ways for the government to introduce further harm minimisation measures, including a reduction in the number of gaming machine licences to 4,000 from its current level of 4,985. This means exploring a broad range of options and working to ensure that the territory’s gaming regulations continue to offer meaningful and effective protections from gambling harm. One recent example is the revised harm minimisation messages which have been placed on gaming machines.
The government is always looking to make continuous improvement in all areas, and we have committed to a number of significant further harm reduction measures. In March this year I introduced a bill that would increase the problem gambling assistance fund levy from 0.6 per cent to 0.75 per cent of gross gaming machine revenue. This increase will mean that more funds—around $300,000 per year—will be available to help reduce the harm from gambling. The sorts of programs funded
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