The NSW government said it is now considering next steps on gaming reform, warning it will “not be rushing its response” after the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform handed down its gaming reform report.
According to Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris, the panel made 30 recommendations in its three volume, 530-page roadmap report.
“The government thanks the Independent Panel for preparing the report and conducting the cashless gaming trial,” he said in a statement.
“The Independent Panel brought together, for the first time, a mix of industry representatives, harm minimisation representatives, law enforcement authorities, academics, community organisations and a person with lived experience to work on this difficult issue in a coordinated way to make recommendations to government on gaming reform.
“I thank the Independent Panel for informing the design of the trial and overseeing its rollout.”
According to the panel’s communique of its final meeting, the executive committee noted the recommendations provide government with a “balanced way forward on prioritising the implementation of critical harm minimisation measures whilst also providing industry with sufficient time to transition in a manner that protects sector viability and employment”.
As part of the cashless gaming trial, the independent panel examined the feasibility and acceptance of implementing cashless gaming technologies in clubs and hotels in NSW.
The state government said a total of 14 licensed venues in across NSW participated in the expanded cashless gaming trial, where cashless gaming technology was installed on 2,388 electronic gaming machines. The technology providers involved in the trial were eBet, IGT, Light and Wonder, the government said.
In September, during Budget Estimates, Hospitality and Racing deputy secretary Tarek Barakat revealed that there were only 32 active users participating in the trial, even though 207 people had signed up.
At the time, Barakat said the cost of running the research and evaluating the trial was $634,000.
Despite the low participation numbers, Harris said the government was “getting a really good picture of the environment out there, what would work going forward, and what are the pitfalls”.
“We’re finding issues around things such as how technology work. This is really complex,” he said.
“If you can imagine that it’s an app-based system – which is currently what’s being trialled – there’s a myriad of different phones and there’s different software. They all have to be able to talk to the systems. So, they’re working through all of those issues.”
With the government now considering the recommendations, it will make the report publicly available in due course.
