Australia’s New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced that his proposed cashless gaming system for all pokies has received backing from his government colleagues.
Under the proposed gambling reforms, pubs and clubs will have five years to implement the new system which will see all pokie machines become cashless by 2028. He also revealed that a new independent task force will be set up to oversee the transition process.
As previously reported, the new cashless system for pokies will see gamblers set mandatory self-spending limits. These can be altered by the customer, however, any changes will need to be approved. There will also be daily spending limits put in place by the implementation team. Perrottet has previously stated that these daily limits will be somewhere in the region of AU$1,000 to AU$1,500.
Speaking at a press conference today he said:
“Today, we fix money laundering. We fix problem gambling and we support pubs and clubs across NSW. It will save lives. We will legislate the strictest privacy protections for player data, with no government or industry access to personalised player data, other than for law enforcement purposes, with strict penalties for misuse.”
“We’ll mandate breaks in play and the ability for players and families to self-exclude. We will implement a statewide self-exclusion register. We’ll ban credit and automatic top-ups with gaming funds only allowed to flow from a bank account. In relation to further money laundering, anti-money laundering measures, we will enable player identity verification to a single bank account.”
Under Perrottet’s proposal, the government will repurchase 2000 slot machines from clubs over the implementation period,. There will also be a complete ban on all political contributions from bars and clubs.
Perottet also revealed the support package for businesses that include interest-free loans and a one-time $50,000 grant to compensate for revenue loss.
“We’ll be providing interest-free loans to support the entire cost of transition for small and medium pubs and clubs across our state. We will also be establishing a community grant program which will cover the cost of all non-tax-deductible donations to communities once the cashless technology has been made.”
Now that Perrottet has the backing of his government, he will bring the proposals before parliament if re-elected in the upcoming election.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.