Page 4 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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The response read as follows:
Dear Mr Duncan
Thank you for your letter of 18 September 2018 about petition number 15-18 lodged by Mr Mark Parton MLA on behalf of Mr Stuart Ramshaw, and received by the Assembly on the same date. This letter is my response pursuant to Standing Order 100.
The ACT Government has delivered measures to support our local clubs to more sustainable, diverse, and community focused. Reform of the community contributions scheme will support clubs to continue offering support to their members and local communities, while expanding the reach of our community contributions scheme even further.
The Government’s announced community contributions reform package has been evidence based, following on from reports by the ACT Auditor-General, PWC, and Dr Charles Livingstone on the community contributions scheme. It has also been the product of thorough consultation across the industry and with community groups.
The new transparency and reporting requirements for the scheme mean that the community will have better information about where clubs’ community contributions are going and who or what they are supporting. Clubs have well established relationships with charitable, sport, cultural and other community groups. Under the current reporting regime, it can be difficult to determine how much of a club’s contributions support charitable, sporting, or other community activities. The Government’s reform package strengthens transparency by more carefully defining allowed contributions, and requiring clubs to be transparent about how they seek applications and make decisions. These changes respond to the Auditor-General’s and other findings about the scheme.
Clubs remain free to spend approximately 90 per cent of their net gaming machine revenue as they wish to support their objectives. But, as part of clubs’ social licence in operating gaming machines, 8.8 per cent of net gaming machine revenue will go towards the community. The existing 8 percent, as the Government announced, will remain for clubs to distribute.
The 0.8 percent increase announced in the Government’s reform is about ensuring that money from gaming machines is getting to people and organisations in our community that need it the most. There will be more money that will be returned to the community to support the range of community purposes set out on the legislation, and those purposes will be more clearly defined to help ensure public confidence in the scheme.
The Government remains committed to ensuring that our regulation of the gambling industry has robust protections against gambling harm, and maintains a focus on delivering benefits to the community as a whole. We will keep consulting with clubs, with the community, and with community groups to ensure that our community contributions scheme serves those who need it most.
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