Regulators have fined two Sydney pubs a total of $154,000 for gambling-related offences, including operating during the mandatory shutdown and machines not connected to the CMS.
Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&G) inspectors attended the Concourse Hotel at Wynyard Station at 8.40am on 28 November 2023, where they found all 29 gaming machines on and ready for play.
The hotel has 24-hour trading, but must still comply with the general 4am-10am gaming machine shutdown period every day.
Further investigation found the EGMs had repeatedly been available to patrons between 8am and 10am from March to November 2023.
The authorities direct that providing patrons access to the machines during the mandatory shutdown period allows people to gamble for longer uninterrupted, increasing the risk of gambling harm.
NSW’s Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) fined the Concourse Hotel $110,000, which it’s said reflects the seriousness of the offending.
“The frequent and repeated operation of gaming machines during the six-hour shutdown period over eight months is an extremely serious breach of laws aimed at reducing gambling harm,” says L&G Executive Director of Regulatory Operations, Dimitri Argeres.
Separately, L&G officers found three gaming machines at the Olympic Hotel in Paddington were not connected to the state’s Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), which monitors all gaming machine operations in NSW and calculates relevant taxes.
Inspectors also found an ATM on the premises had the ability to dispense cash from credit card accounts.
Gaming venues are not allowed to have ATMs that provide credit access anywhere on the premises, under the Gaming Machines Act 2001, and the investigation revealed that over $16k had been withdrawn from credit card accounts using the Olympic’s ATM since 2021.
L&G warns that permitting the withdrawal of cash from a credit card account can allow patrons to gamble beyond their means.
The Olympic Hotel was fined $44k for the offences.
“Credit card restrictions are an important measure to stop people from gambling with money they don’t have,” says Argeres.
Despite the significant fines some say they are not enough, with Greens MP Cate Faehrmann quoted as suggesting offending venues should be “stripped” of licences or fined more heavily, accusing venues of “deliberately and callously flout[ing]” the laws as they know the revenue outweighs the penalty, and calling for the government to “make an example of them”.
ILGA’s official decisions can be found here.
