Yesterday, Liquor & Gaming NSW published its Roadmap for Gaming Reform, a report outlining 30 recommendations to government concerning the implementation of cashless gaming in NSW.

The report - which falls shortly behind Victoria announcing a bill to introduce carded play and Tasmania backtracking on a similar plan - has already been slammed by various industry bodies, many of which were part of the Independent Panel for Gaming Reform’s 16 members.

“The recommendations made by the Panel’s Executive are not supported by evidence,” wrote AHA NSW in its feedback on draft recommendations.

“The research findings of the cashless gaming trial are embarrassing and not credible. The ‘Research Report’ the Executive of the Panel has relied on consists of a survey of only 2 players and an interview of 1 player.”

Similarly, ClubsNSW recognised major shortfallings in the sample size of NSW’s cashless gaming trial.

“With only 14 genuine and active users participating in the trial, such a low adoption should necessitate a cautious, measured, voluntary approach to implementation of account-based gaming, rather than a short timeframe for a statewide, mandatory rollout,” it wrote.

“Both The Star and Crown casino have struggled over several years to implement this technology, experiencing significant costs, loss of revenue and material reduction in employment. To expect a small regional club to implement this technology in the same timeframe is simply not feasible. For example, Crown slashed over 1,000 jobs after introducing mandatory account-based play in Melbourne.”

In the end, the Executive Committee concluded that further work needs to be undertaken by the government in developing its preferred approach to gaming reform. The Independent Panel for Gaming Reform has provided advice to government on issues such as facial recognition technology to identify self-excluded patrons and the establishment of a statewide exclusion register.

“This has been challenging and complex work, and I thank each of the panel’s 16 members for their time, expertise and enthusiasm over the 16 months of the panel’s work, and for contributing their views to developing the recommendations,” said Michael Foggo, the Panel’s Chairperson.

“The trial of this new technology was an important step to better understand the benefits and challenges for its implementation, giving technology providers, venues, patrons and government insights on operational issues tested in the real world.”

In addition to industry bodies AHA NSW, ClubsNSW, and Leagues Club Australia, the Independent Panel included NSW police, experts in cybersecurity and privacy, academics, community organisations, and a person with lived experience of gambling harm.

The Panel Members for Wesley Mission and NSW Council of Social Service both welcomed the findings of the report.

“Criticising the uptake of this trial is like voluntarily introducing seatbelts and then blaming their absence for the subsequent rising road death toll,” said NCOSS CEO Cara Varian.

“It proves the very point that mandatory cashless gambling with inbuilt harm minimisation measures is the only way forward.”

Rev Stu, CEO of Wesley Mission, added that Crown Melbourne’s cashless gaming program has proved a success for this specific reason.

“Crown in Melbourne have implemented mandatory cashless gambling and saw a huge uptake in participation, with more than 400,000 people signing up for cards because there was no other option,” he said.

“It is important to take the lessons from Crown Melbourne to create a system that is universal across every pub and club so it’s easy to use, provides confidence to people about the security of their data and gives control back to gamblers who are using the poker machines that have been intentionally designed to increase their addictive nature.

“The NSW trial has proven that the technology works. It is now about implementing the technology to reduce gambling harm and effectively clamp down on money laundering.”

The full Roadmap for Gaming Reform report can be viewed here.

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