Independent Panel on Gaming Reform

Independent Panel on Gaming Reform – Meeting 16

Final meeting and conclusion of the Independent Panel

The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its sixteenth and final meeting on 25 November 2024.

Key outcomes from the meeting

The Minister for Gaming and Racing, the Hon. David Harris MP, attended the final Panel meeting and expressed his appreciation on behalf of the NSW Government for the extensive work undertaken by the Panel to deliver a gaming reform roadmap.

The Chair on behalf of the Panel thanked the Minister for the opportunity to contribute towards the Government’s delivery of its commitments on gaming reform.

In its final meeting, the Panel reflected on its work over the last 18 months to oversee the NSW cashless gaming trial and develop the roadmap.

The Panel brought together representatives from across law enforcement, industry, experts and academics in the field of gambling and health, and a member with lived experience of gambling harm to hold robust deliberations on potential gaming reforms.

These Panel deliberations, in conjunction with insights and learnings from the trial and a broad range of other evidence was carefully considered by the Executive Committee in its finalisation of the Roadmap recommendations.

The Executive Committee noted that the Roadmap 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.

The Executive Committee on behalf of the Panel will deliver its Roadmap on Gaming Reform to the NSW Government before the end of the month.

Independent Panel on Gaming Reform – Meeting 10

The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its tenth meeting in Sydney on Friday 31 May 2024.

Key outcomes from the meeting

The NSW cashless gaming trial has now commenced in the following venues:

• Twin Towns Services Club
• Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club
• Wyong Rugby League Club

The cashless gaming technology has now been installed on 873 machines, surpassing the NSW Government’s election commitment of 500 machines.

The trial will continue to roll out across NSW in a staged approach, with more venues to join trial over the coming months. The Panel will continue to oversee the trial.

Next meeting

The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform will meet again in July 2024.

Independent Panel on Gaming Reform – Meeting 9

The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform held its ninth meeting at Twin Towns Services Club in Tweed Heads on Monday 6 May 2024.

Key outcomes from the meeting

The Panel visited Twin Towns Services Club in Tweed Heads. The first venue where the NSW cashless gaming trial is taking place.

The trial in this venue started in March this year, with technology developed by eBet installed on all 596 of the club’s gaming machines.

Panel members were able to observe the cashless gaming trial to better understand how it’s working in practice and obtain feedback from the venue on the trial.

Panel members met with representatives from Twin Towns Services Club and technology provider eBet to discuss their experience and key observations since the trial started. The Panel also received a demonstration of the cashless gaming technology in operation at the venue.

Panel members also met with GambleAware Mid and Northern NSW and the North Coast Aboriginal Development Alliance to discuss from a local perspective how gambling impacts their community and provide feedback to the Panel on key considerations for cashless gaming and gaming reform in NSW.

Next meeting

The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform will meet again at the end of May 2024.

Independent Panel on Gaming Reform – Meeting 7

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.

Key outcomes from the meeting

Approval of technology providers

The Panel approved the following technology providers for trial commencement, having satisfied the cybersecurity and data privacy requirements:

• Aristocrat
• eBet
• IGT
• Independent Gaming
• Light & Wonder.

Researcher commissioned

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:

• reducing gambling harm in NSW clubs and hotels
• the club and hotel industries and the people they employ
• the infrastructure and cost requirements for clubs and hotels in relation to any rollout of cashless gaming technology.

The outcomes from the evaluation will inform the Panel’s recommendations to the NSW Government.

Next meeting

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.

Key outcomes from the meeting

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:

• Aristocrat
• eBet
• IGT
• Independent Gaming
• Light & Wonder

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:

• Albion Hotel, Parramatta
• Auburn Tennis Club
• Broken Hill Musicians Club
• Cabra-Vale Ex-Active Servicemen's Club
• Charles Hotel, Fairy Meadow
• Crows Nest Hotel
• Dooleys Lidcombe Catholic Club
• Dubbo RSL Memorial Club
• Epping Club
• Fingal Bay Sports Club
• Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay
• Juniors Malabar RSL Club
• Juniors Maroubra RSL Club
• Moama Bowling Club
• Nags Head Hotel, Glebe
• Pittwater RSL Club
• Ramsgate RSL Club
• Royal Hotel
• Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen's Club
• St George Leagues Club
• St Marys Rugby League Club
• The Duke Hotel, Dural
• The Stag & Hunter Hotel, Mayfield
• Twin Towns Services Club
• Wests HQ, Rooty Hill
• Willoughby Hotel
• Worrigee Sports Club
• Wyong Rugby League Club

These venues have been determined by:

• the number of machines and venues that technology providers could install cashless technology on for the purposes of the trial; and
• geographic and demographic considerations.

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.

Next meeting

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.

Key outcomes from the meeting

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:

• 10 applications from technology providers,
• 27 applications from clubs, and
• 15 applications from hotels.

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.

Next meeting

The Independent panel will meet again in November 2023.

Inaugural meeting

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.

Key outcomes from the meeting

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.

Next meeting

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.