Liquor & Gaming in NSW has published its Regulatory Priorities for the first half of 2025, aiming to keep “both industry and the broader community” informed about what it sees as the key issues.
The regulator plans to focus on a range of matters, including:
- alignment of planning and liquor licensing
- reforms to alcohol deliveries
- a framework for sound compliance
- facial recognition for the purpose of exclusions, and
- gaming reform, including statewide and third-party exclusions
The office will be holding its scheduled Regulatory Priorities webinar in February.
New rules came into effect at the start of the year regarding cash dispensing facilities (ATMs and EFTPOS terminals that allow cash withdrawal), specifying that they must be located at least five metres from the entry to a gaming room or area where gaming machines are located, and must not be visible from the entry to a gaming area.
L&G warns that from 1 February (2025) it will take a “zero-tolerance approach” to breaches of these rules.
There are new regulations regarding the payment of expired gaming machine tickets and unclaimed jackpot prizes.
Payments by EFT will no longer be accepted and licensees attempting to do so by EFT or cheque are at risk of committing a breach.
All such payments must now be made through the NSW Government Customer Payment Platform, via credit card or PayID. See the regulator’s web page for more information on unclaimed gaming machine prizes.
Also, the NSW Gambling Survey 2024 report has been released, providing up-to-date statistics on who is gambling, elements of change, and the extent of gambling harm, reflecting the views of more than 10K adults in NSW interviewed for the research.
Key findings are that gambling activity has remained relatively stable over the past five years, with 53.5 per cent of adults reporting gambling in the past 12 months, compared to 53.0 per cent in 2019.
This follows significant decline (from 69pc) in 2006, and (65pc) in 2011.
Of particular note is the growth in online sports betting, which has increased by approximately 50 per cent since 2019 (from 4.2pc to 6.7pc).
The full report is available at NSW Gambling Survey 2024.
