The NSW Government is taking a leading role in gaming reform through the establishment of an Independent Panel on Gaming Reform. The Panel will oversee a cashless gaming trial on electronic gaming machines in a range of venues across NSW.
On 13 July, the Government announced the establishment of the 16-member Panel. The Independent Panel Terms of Reference are now available.
The NSW cashless gaming trial has commenced FIND OUT MORE
The Panel includes three independent Executive Committee members:
The Panel also comprises of the following members from law enforcement and industry, alongside experts and academics in the field of gambling and health:
The Panel may invite experts to provide advice, including external experts and government bodies such as from NSW Crime Commission, NSW Information and Privacy Commission and Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
The Panel will oversee the cashless gaming trial, including mandating certain requirements to participate in the trial and recommending an appropriate mix of venues for the trial.
Once the cashless gaming trial concludes, the Panel will review findings of the trial and develop recommendations for Government, taking into consideration infrastructure investments required, impact on employment and industry, options to further reduce gambling harm and the impact on reducing the risk of money laundering.
Additionally, the Panel will provide advice to Government to inform a gaming reform implementation roadmap by November 2024.
Each communiqué outlines what was discussed at each meeting and has been prepared by the Panel Chair.
The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its seventh meeting in Sydney on Monday 4 March 2024. It is also noted the Panel convened on 16 February 2024 in an all-day session to prioritise matters for development of the Gaming Reform Roadmap.
The Panel approved the following technology providers for trial commencement, having satisfied the cybersecurity and data privacy requirements:
3arc Social has been commissioned to carry out research to provide insights into the cashless gaming trial’s objectives of examining the feasibility and acceptance of cashless gaming technologies in hotels and clubs. The research is expected to gain insights from the cashless gaming technology on:
The outcomes from the evaluation will inform the Panel’s recommendations to the NSW Government.
The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform will meet again in April 2024.
The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its fifth meeting in Sydney on Monday, 11 December 2023.
Panel members continued to deliberate on the submissions received from technology providers, clubs and hotels wanting to take part in the cashless gaming trial. The panel has determined that the following technology providers are approved to participate in the trial, conditional on meeting cybersecurity requirements:
The panel also conditionally approved 28 venues to participate in the trial, subject to meeting cybersecurity requirements. The venues include 20 clubs and eight hotels and are located across 24 local government areas. Seven regional venues will participate, including two border towns. Subject to final approval the technology will be installed on 4,485 electronic gaming machines.
The panel has determined that the following venues are conditionally approved to participate in the trial:
These venues have been determined by:
The trials will be rolled out from the first quarter of 2024 and research will focus on the feasibility and acceptance of cashless gaming technologies. The Panel will report to the NSW Government in November 2024.
The Independent Panel will meet again in February 2024.
The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its third meeting in Sydney on Monday, 30 October 2023.
The meeting was attended by the Chair, Michael Foggo, executive members Dr Ursula Stephens and The Hon Niall Blair and panel members included key industry, community, and harm minimisation representatives.
Panel members considered the applications to participate in the cashless gaming trial. The panel was pleased with the large number of applications it received from technology providers, hotels and clubs wanting to participate in the trial.
The Panel received a total of 52 submissions, including:
From the applications from venues, 5909 electronic gaming machines have been offered to be part of the trial. Venues range from a small regional hotel with 9 gaming machines to a large metropolitan club with over 700 gaming machines.
The venues range across 30 Local Government Areas with 30 venues (4476 gaming machines) in metropolitan LGAs including Newcastle and Wollongong and 12 venues (with 1,433 gaming machines) in regional LGAs.
The Panel will look to finalise the venues and technology providers that will participate in the trial over the next month.
The trial will look at the feasibility and acceptability of cashless gaming.
The Panel will report to Government by November 2024.
The Independent panel will meet again in November 2023.
The NSW Government has committed to undertake a cashless gaming trial for electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in clubs and hotels. The purpose of the trial is to ensure that evidence can be collected by the Independent Panel so recommendations can be developed for Government, taking into consideration the impact on gaming harm and reducing money laundering. The recommendations will also take into consideration the infrastructure and investments required, as well as the impact on employment.
The Panel has issued invitations for technology providers and venues to apply to participate in the cashless gaming trial. There are minimum requirements for applicants including harm minimisation protections, anti-money laundering protections, data security and privacy protections.
Applications will be submitted to the Panel for assessment and approval at the next meeting in October 2023.
The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its inaugural meeting in Sydney on Monday, 14 August 2023.
The Panel is chaired by former Office of Liquor and Gaming Commissioner Michael Foggo, supported by executive members Dr Ursula Stephens and The Hon Niall Blair.
Other members include key industry, law enforcement, community, and harm minimisation representatives.
Acknowledging the complexity of the NSW gaming machine environment, Panel members affirmed their commitment to working productively together to reduce opportunities for money laundering and to minimise the potential harm from electronic gaming machines.
The Panel’s first task is to establish the framework for the cashless gaming trials it will oversee. Panel members were briefed on the cashless gaming trials already underway in NSW.
During its first meeting, the Panel considered the important aspects to be considered as part of the trial including harm minimisation protections, anti-money laundering protections, data security and privacy protections, and requirements to enable venues to participate in trials.
The Panel will further consider the objectives, design and framework of the trial at its next meeting in September.
The Independent panel will meet again in September 2023.
The NSW Government established the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform as part of its commitment to gaming reform in NSW and to oversee an expanded cashless gaming trial.
