NSW Continues with the Gaming Reform, Lowers Poker Machine Cap

The government of New South Wales continues to work on the ongoing gaming reform, which is completely dedicated to minimizing the risk of gambling harm and preventing various potential problems related to money laundering in the state.

Measures to reduce gambling harm and prevent money laundering:

One of the changes included in the new regulations is related to pubs and clubs that operate gaming machines. They will have to have sufficient entitlements in order to be allowed to operate the machines. The good news for venues is that they will be allowed to trade the entitlements with each other. 

The limit on poker machines is lowered as well, by more than 3000, which will limit the entitlements in the venues.

The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority has discussed the decrease in new machines’ cash feed-in limit. The limit on machines that will work from July 1 will be ten times lesser than it was before. It used to be $5000, and now, as the government promised before the elections, it is lowered to only $500.

From September 1, the external signage for gaming rooms will also be banned, which means that the venues will have busy summer because of the obligatory removing signs such as “Dragon’s Den,” “VIP Lounge,” and any other name that can possibly remind visitors of gambling areas.

Political parties won’t be able to accept donations from clubs that possess gaming machines anymore. This legislation will be active from July 1.

Pre-election changes:

The government decided to conduct many changes in order to reduce gambling harm and prevent money laundering before the election. Some of the other changes that the government proposed are increasing the forfeiture of the entitlements of gaming machines, introducing 500 new machines with cashless payments, and establishing an independent authority that will be in charge of monitoring the new machines and reporting about the trial results.

David Harris, a Minister of Gaming and Racing, commented: “We promised the people of NSW that we’d reform the gaming sector in a way that reduced gambling harm while future-proofing the industry. One of these commitments was to reduce the number of poker machines in this state – and this is an important step forward. Further down the track, we’ll also be changing the GME forfeiture scheme so that for every two entitlements traded, one will be forfeited – which will see numbers drop at a faster rate. It’s important that as we navigate through these changes, we engage with industry so that we can ensure the vibrancy of our hospitality and gaming industries.”