NSW focuses on pubs and clubs to ensure RG prerequisites are met

Liquor & Gaming NSW has revealed a new initiative that will seek to ensure that pubs and gaming clubs in New South Wales are compliant with existing regulatory norms and commit to responsible gambling and gambling harm prevention & minimization.

This announcement comes as a part of a sweeping reform in the state and the country with regulators toughening their stance on gambling venues and seeking to ensure that consumers are protected. The "Targeted Compliance Program," as the measure is known, has already been going on for some time.

The most recent actions undertaken by the regulator have to do with its second phase. Essentially, Liquor & Gaming NSW is launching 500 inspections that will try to determine if licensed and authorized venues are indeed providing a service that focuses on harm minimization. The checks are comprehensive and they look at how these venues operate their gambling businesses and other combined services.

Another matter of interest is the placement of ATMs, their positioning, and the overall layout of the venue. For example, one thing that inspectors want to see is if licensed venues are making their guests go through the gambling areas prior to accessing the bar, for example. Liquor & Gaming NSW has reiterated its hardliner stance and said that any venue discovered in breach of existing regulations and law would be acted against in due course.

Liquor & Gaming NSW ExecutiveDirector Regulatory Operations & EnforcementJane Lin said that harm-minimization measures are an absolute priority and they are there to ensure a safe gaming industry that limits the opportunity for consumers to fall into bad habits or suffer from the hobby.

"Our compliance program is all about promoting a culture of safer gambling and protecting patrons and the wider community from problems associated with excessive gambling," Lin explained.

The inspections would not have the same earth-shattering consequences, as say the probe into Crown Melbourne in Victoria, but they are still important means for the regulator to get a better idea of what has been going on in the state’s gaming floors. Infringements will be punished with penalties of up to AU$5,500 ($3,800) and they will be applied as seen fit by the regulator in those cases that entail a punishment.

In the previous phase, Liquor & Gaming NSW reported 875 inspections carried out. The result was that 77 penalty notices were handed down to gambling venues for failing to meet the standards outlined by the regulator.

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