There will be no extra poker machines allowed in parts of the Eurobodalla Shire, following a move by the NSW Government to overhaul the state’s gambling industry.
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Venues in Batemans Bay and Narooma have been classed as being in a ‘high-risk’ zone and will be subject to the poker machine cap.
Their “high-risk” rating has been decided based on their socio-economic level, determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
In a scheme the state government hopes will crack down on problem gambling, the number of poker machines allowed in the areas identified as high-risk will be frozen.
About 20 per cent of the state will be banned from having new machines under the cap reform.
According to data obtained by the Greens in 2017, there are 1383 gaming machines across 23 premises in the Shoalhaven. This is significantly more than neighboring electorates.
“Local community caps are an appropriate response to concerns that some areas have too many gaming machines," Minister for Gaming Paul Toole said.
“These areas will be capped at their current number, ensuring no additional machines can move into these areas.
“A number of councils and community groups suggested caps and the NSW Government agrees this is the right thing to do in higher-risk areas.”
Mr Toole said the reform was the “most significant” change to gambling regulation in the state “for a decade”.
“These changes will deliver more transparency, more community consultation and greater certainty for industry," he said.
“The NSW Government will provide more information than ever before about gaming machines, with comprehensive activity and profit statistics available free of charge from today [Tuesday, March 6].”
The reforms also include increased penalties for wagering, making operators personally liable if they offer unlawful inducements and will bolster measures to address problem gambling across the state.
But Greens MLC and spokesman on problem gambling Justin Field said the announcement was misleading the community because only a policy that reduced, not froze, machine numbers would address problem gambling.
“These measures don’t stop the addictive features that exploit people, they don’t rein in predatory behaviour from clubs and hotels to maximise profits and they don’t keep people and communities safe,” he told Fairfax Media.
“Any pokies plan that fails to rapidly reduce the total number of machines in NSW continues to lock in increasing harm to people and communities”.
Gambling Impact Society chairman Kate Roberts said the new measures were the “beginning, not the end”, of reforms that needed to be taken.
“We are heartened to see the recognition of the need that within our LGAs, there needs to be significant capping,” she said.
"We are very concerned that the LIA process to date has not given recognition to the fact that poker machines expansions have been occurring in already stressed areas.
“NSW if the heart of poker machine gambling and it is good to see the government is starting to take some recognition of the need for some clear reforms.
“It is a step in the right direction but we would like to see more commitments.”
