Gaming machine harm minimisation

Use our tool to find out what signs are compulsory to display in your venue and where.

Except for TAB and Keno signage, hotels and clubs must not display any gambling-related sign that may be seen from outside the venue. A gambling-related sign is any sign; using words, symbols, pictures or anything else, that:

• draws attention to the availability of gaming machines in a club or hotel
• uses a term, or expression, frequently associated with gambling
• relates to a gambling franchise or gambling business.

Find out what signs you need for your venue.

By law, hotels and clubs with gaming machines must display contact cards in a clear, plastic, see-through card holder that must be attached to each bank of gaming machines.

These business-card size contact cards provide information to people who are problem gamblers, and their families, on self-exclusion and counselling services available from your venue.

Buy contact cards.

By law, approved player information brochures must be displayed in hotels and clubs, and must be provided when requested by a patron.

In addition to English, these brochures must be made available in specified community languages. These are Chinese, Korean, Turkish and Vietnamese.

• In each area where gaming machines are located, brochure 1E (chance of winning – gaming machines) must be prominently displayed.
• If you operate Keno, brochure 2E (chance of winning – lotto, lotteries or Keno) must be prominently displayed at or near each Keno terminal.

Buy player information brochures.

Hotels and clubs that operate gaming machines must establish and conduct a self-exclusion scheme. This allows patrons to voluntarily exclude themselves from nominated areas of a gaming venue or the entire venue.

Learn more about self-exlusion.

By law, hotels and clubs must not publish any gaming machine advertising. This means any advertising that gives publicity to, or promotes participation in gambling activities involving gaming machines.

Publish means to disseminate in any way, including:

• audio: radio
• visual: cinema, video, TV
• written: electronics, internet, promotional.
• any advertising that appears in a gaming machine industry trade journal or in a publication for a trade convention involving gaming machines
• any advertising, including signage, that is inside a club or hotel and can’t be seen or heard from outside the venue
• the approved name of a club if the name was being used as at 2 April 2002
• promotional material provided by a club to club members that contains gaming machine advertising – if the member has expressly consented to receiving the promotional material and that consent has not been withdrawn.

Exemptions from the advertising prohibition

Promotional material sent by the club must advise the member that:

• their player activity statements are available on request
• they may withdraw their consent, or unsubscribe, to receiving any future promotional material.

It must also include information or advertising that is not gaming machine related.

Find out more about gambling advertising.

Regulations are in place for where gaming machines can be located in hotels and clubs. The intention is to ensure that gaming isn’t advertised to members of the public outside of the venue.

Jackpot displays

A monitor such as a large plasma or LCD screen used to display the jackpot for a linked gaming system or an authorised progressive system is considered a gaming- related sign. Therefore, these monitors must not be:

• anywhere outside or close to the venue
• anywhere inside the venue that can be seen from outside the venue.

A monitor displaying a jackpot prize from a linked system or an authorised progressive system can only be located in a bar area of a hotel or club or, in the case of a hotel, the gaming room.

Learn more about how you can situate gaming machines and monitors.

Location of cash dispensing facilities

• must not be located in an area where gaming machines are located
• must not provide access to cash from a credit card account.

Dealing with cheques

There are restrictions around writing cheques if your hotel or club has gaming machines. You must not cash:

• more than one cheque per person per day
• a cheque made payable to any name other than the venue
• a cheque for more than $400
• a cheque for a person who has cashed a cheque that was dishonoured, unless the amount has subsequently been paid to the venue.

Any cashed cheque must be banked within two working days after it was accepted.

Payment of prize money by cheque

If a person wins more than $5,000, the amount that exceeds $5,000 must be paid within 48 hours in one of two ways:

1. crossed cheque made payable to the prize winner
2. electronic funds transfer (EFT) to a nominated account - if those means are available.

If the total prize money is more than $5,000 and the prize winner requests to have the entire amount paid by crossed cheque or EFT, not just the amount over $5,000, you must do so.

A prize-winning cheque must be clearly marked with the words: Prize winning cheque – cashing rules apply.

If you conduct an electronic player reward scheme, you must let your player reward scheme participants know that player activity statements are available. If requested, you must provide them with a monthly player activity statement free of charge.

Monthly activity statements must include:

• the player’s total amount of turnover, total wins, and net expenditure
• total points earned and redeemed as the result of playing gaming machines
• the total length of time during which a participant’s player card was inserted in gaming machines during each 24-hour period in the month, and the total length of time during the whole month
• a note advising that the statement only relates to the gaming machine play while the player’s card was inserted into the machine
• Gambling Help information:
  ‘Think! About your choices
  Call Gambling Help 1800 858 858 or visit the GambleAware website’

Inducements are incentives that provide benefits to encourage gambling. Your venue must not offer:

• or supply any free or discounted liquor as an incentive to play gaming machines
• free credits through letterbox flyers, shopper dockets
• any other form of incentive to play gaming machines.