The bill has now been sent to the Legislative Council for further debate.
Australia.- The Legislative Assembly has approved the Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2024, which will now go to the Legislative Council for further debate. The proposed legislation received 53 votes in favour and 25 against. An amendment proposed by the opposition to halt the progression of the bill until the government provided evidence for the proposals was voted down.
In her second reading speech, Melissa Horne, the minister for casino, gaming and liquor regulation, noted that the proposed legislation gives the government the power to set requirements for carded play on gaming machines in hotels and clubs. The bill would limit the maximum amount a gambler can put into an electronic gaming machine to AU$100 (US$68.31) a time, down from the current limit of AU$1,000.
Carded-play would be compulsory for machines and would require players to set pre-determined spending limits. The default spending limit would be set at AU$50, although gamblers would be able to adjust this under a scheme. The introduction of the carded-play system would begin with a pilot in mid-2025 at 40 venues statewide before becoming mandatory on all machines. The bill would also slow the spin rates for machines from the current 2.3 seconds to 3 seconds per spin.
During the debate, Gippsland South MP Danny O’Brien expressed concerns that the bill only establishes a framework for carded play rather than implementing it fully. He said: “The government is basically giving itself a head of power to introduce these reforms rather than giving the parliament the opportunity to understand exactly what it is going to do and in what timeframe it is going to do it. I acknowledge the timeframe is listed in the second-reading speech, but we are already somewhat behind that timeframe given that the bill was introduced in November.”
Gippsland East MP Tim Bull raised concerns regarding the potential impact of mandatory carded play on casual gamblers, suggesting that it may deter people who engage in brief gaming sessions while waiting for other activities, such as dining.
He said: “What this is going to impact is the person who goes along to a venue and while they are waiting for their parma to come out or waiting for their friends to turn up will put AU$10 through the pokies – I guess to keep their interest before they engage in the primary activity that they attended the venue for. This casual gaming will not take place if they have got to sign up; they just will not bother to do it.”
Meanwhile, Narre Warren South MP Gary Maas described the reforms as “the strongest gambling harm prevention laws in Australia.”
