NSW regulator to inspect gaming venues for safer gambling failings

The regulator said that recent inspections it had conducted “identified a number of instances in which these requirements have not been met”.

These included the placement of ATMs in gaming rooms, gaming machines and signage being visible from outside venues, the absence of required self-exclusion signage and minors playing gaming machines.

“Failure to comply with the harm minimisation requirements carries penalties of up to $5,500 and is grounds for disciplinary action,” Liquor and Gaming New South Wales said.

As a result of these failings, the regulator announced a new wave of inspections.

“L&G NSW is taking a zero-tolerance approach to these types of breaches and has determined that further compliance activity is required to ensure that these measures are being complied with,” it said.

Money laundering report

In addition, the regulator addressed a report claiming that “a team” of its money laundering investigators had “quietly resigned” over tensions related to the launch of cashless gaming.

Liquor and Gaming NSW said that the issue of money laundering was mostly handled by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) and the police, and so it has never had a dedicated team of anti-money laundering investigators.

It said that seven staff worked on an anti-money laundering report published last month. Of these, two have taken up roles “elsewhere in the public service”, one did not transfer when Liquor and Gaming NSW moved under a different government department and one staff member’s secondment came to an end.