Page 3084 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 22 August 2017
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The Gaming Machine (Cash Facilities) Amendment Bill 2017 is fundamentally about reducing the harms of problem gambling. Restrictions on access to cash at gaming venues are a key component of our harm minimisation rules. Also, despite Mr Parton’s comments, which acknowledge that members of his party do not actually believe in them, restrictions on cash are supported by evidence, including from the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into gambling, and by the community.
Limiting access to cash inside gaming venues provides a brake on the harms of problem gaming and creates opportunities for people affected to stop and to seek help. And it limits the clear effects of problem gambling not only on the gamblers themselves but also on their extended family and community.
The consequences of problem gambling can be devastating. Professor Laurie Brown has courageously spoken out about her experience with problem gambling. People like Professor Brown who are willing to share their experience show us why it is important to keep focusing on harm minimisation and finding new ways to regulate gambling in the territory.
There is already a $250 per day limit on ATM withdrawals in clubs on the basis of this evidence. Earlier this year I asked the Gambling and Racing Commission to undertake an audit of the effectiveness of cash withdrawal restrictions. The findings showed that EFTPOS withdrawals could be used as a way around the ATM limits. There is already a voluntary code of practice in place. The audit showed without a doubt that a voluntary code of practice is not enough to address the issue.
This bill responds to the audit findings by introducing mandatory restrictions on EFTPOS withdrawals in clubs. The limitations that we are considering today are reasonable changes. My directorate has worked with clubs to ensure that the restrictions can be effectively implemented, and we have crafted the changes so that they are flexible enough to account for changing technologies.
As I said in introduction, the key features of this bill are that clubs will be limited to one EFTPOS facility where a person can withdraw cash at the premises; cash withdrawals from an EFTPOS facility at a club must not exceed $200 per transaction; and the person operating the EFTPOS facility must be a staff member who has been trained in the responsible provision of gambling services. Each time cash is dispensed, that trained staff member must personally hand the money to the person making the withdrawal.
Restrictions on cash can help people who are affected by problem gambling to interrupt their gaming and to get help. Providing opportunities for people who are affected to interact with trained staff also increases the potential for them to recognise problem gambling and to intervene.
I thank the Standing Committee on Justice and Community Safety, in their legislative scrutiny role, for their review of this bill. I have provided the committee with a detailed response of the issues that they raised. In brief, the committee noted that this
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