When pubs in southwest Sydney were identified as the source of a COVID-19 cluster in June, pubs and clubs worked with the NSW government to design an effective and efficient system cost effective to help NSW Health contact tracers identify their customers
Most customers have been happy to comply, but pubs and clubs are now saying their businesses are threatened by a different identity check proposal, this time on customers who are problem gamblers
Services Minister Victor Dominello has enacted new legislation in response to public outcry over the suicide of drug addict Gary Van Duinen two years ago after a 13-hour session on the poker machines that ended. completed at Dee Why RSL
In a discussion paper on legislation to minimize harmful gambling, Mr. Dominello proposes fines for poker rooms that fail to take reasonable steps to end problem gambling, including by customers who have signed up for a new statewide self-exclusion registry
Many clubs keep these records internally on a voluntary basis, but as an ABC survey showed this month, they hardly take any practical steps to enforce them.
According to the proposal, the sites would have trained staff to enforce the exclusions, possibly using facial recognition technology. Families could, under certain conditions, request that relatives be placed on the list
The Greens and Mark Latham’s One Nation in the upper house, meanwhile, supported a similar idea launched by Mr. Dominello that all poker machines would be made cashless and players would have to use custom cards, pre-loaded with their play money
NSW clubs and the Australian Hotels Association, which are political donors to both sides, are likely to fight hard if they think damage minimization measures go too far
Former ALP opposition leader Michael Daley has now joined Clubs NSW to warn that the idea of the cashless card would impose a devastating cost on clubs and pubs at a time when they are still recovering from the bushfires and COVID-19 M Daley warned this could turn into a debacle for the government similar to the greyhound racing ban in 2016
The industry has certainly suffered during the 10-week COVID lockdown Yet it has huge government backing – like the $ 11.4 million given to Penrith Panthers for a parking lot recently. Figures from last week showed that the industry had made larger profits on slots since it reopened in June than at the same time last year While some sites are still struggling, the industry could argue that the implementation of the new rules would be delayed to give sites time to get back on their feet
In addition, the costs of enforcing self-exclusion rules are modest and should not pose a significant threat to their financial viability COVID-19 log sheets show how easily people’s identities can be verified with basic technology The obligation to take reasonable steps to train people in this technology and to enforce exclusion lists should not be more difficult than the existing rules on responsible alcohol service
Making cashless machines might cost more than other proposals, but it would have the added benefit of reducing money laundering through poker machines One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party have raised privacy concerns regarding the use of facial recognition technology, but this concern could be addressed by giving the New South Wales Privacy Commissioner control over any new regulations
It promises to be an uphill battle but action is needed The government should be credited for taking on the powerful voices of the club and pub industry in this way as problem gambling in this state must be stopped before he ruins no more lives
Lisa Davies, Editor-in-Chief of The Herald, writes a weekly newsletter exclusively for subscribers To have it delivered to your inbox, please sign up here
Since the Herald was first published in 1831, the editorial staff have felt it important to express a thoughtful perspective on the issues of the day for readers, always emphasizing public interest at the forefront Elsewhere we strive to cover a diversity of points of view without endorsing any of them
Slot machine, New South Wales, problem gambling, self-exclusion
News from around the world – AU – Stricter enforcement needed to end gambling harmful
SOURCE: https://www.w24news.com
