New South Wales’ gambling regulator announced on February 2nd that all establishments that have over 20 operating gaming machines within their premises will be required to employ a Responsible Gambling Officer (RGO). This piece of legislation applies to all venues with gambling machines and, therefore, encompasses pubs, clubs, and hotels.
As for venues with a gaming machine roster that exceeds 100, they will need to hire additional RGOs in order to comply with state regulations. Another requirement that has to do with the new amendments is for each business to keep a Gambling Incident Register, as well as a Gaming Plan of Management.
RGOs will have a variety of duties, one of which will be to monitor patrons for behaviour that suggests they are struggling with or are at risk of problem gambling. Once identified, these clients will be provided with information regarding gambling support services, and RGOs will also need to assist them in signing up for self-exclusion. In addition, officers will have to record all gambling harm instances in the venue’s respective gambling incident register. Due to late-night wagering having strong ties with problem gambling, venue customers will be observed both during the day and in the late-night hours of a given business’ operating times.
These regulations will be enforced starting July 2024, which gives venues several months to make sure that they are in adherence with the new requirements. This includes the establishment of the earlier mentioned register and gaming plan of management, the hiring of Responsible Gambling Offers, and providing the said RGOs with Advanced Responsible Conduct of Gambling (ARCG) training in order to ensure that they are prepared to perform their duties.
Gaming Machines Pose the Biggest Danger to Gamblers
According to David Harris, New South Wales’ Minister for Gaming and Racing, the state’s governing body is dedicated to its role in introducing reforms that mitigate problem gambling and tackle criminal activity such as money laundering. He also said that it is both gamblers and their families and communities that suffer the consequences of problem gambling, and that gaming machines represent “the highest risk of gambling harm” within New South Wales. Additionally, Mr Harris quoted data from the Problem Gambling Severity Index, according to which for every three individuals who partake in gambling on the regular, at least one has a moderate or high risk of becoming a problem gambler.
It should also be noted that, apart from mandating the introduction of RGOs, the NSW Labour Government has also introduced other amendments to gambling regulations with the aim of addressing problem gambling. One such rule dictates that gaming machines can no longer have a cash input limit of $5,000, as it has been reduced to $500. Moreover, there can be no more than around 3,000 operating gambling machines within the New South Wales state.
Other measures include gambling clubs being prohibited from making political donations, the reduction of gambling-related promotions within gambling venues, the outright banning of such promotions outside of such establishments, and the facilitation of cashless gaming trials encompassing over 4,400 electronic gaming machines in the state, overseen by the Panel on Gaming Reform.
- Author
Daniel Williams
