Cashless gaming can also involve use of a kiosk or cashier to load funds onto a ticket that is inserted into a machine. Such a system would not verify ID,or the source of funds. It would do nothing to address money laundering or harmful gambling. This is the form of cashless gambling that NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns refers to when quoting a2020 report from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. This concluded that cashless gaming may lead,perversely,to people gambling more – if pre-commitment isn’t included.
That’s certainly a risk,but it is disingenuous of Minns to raise this inadequate model as a potential barrier to reform in NSW. It only serves to muddy the debate when Minns should be instead offering bipartisan support to Premier Dominic Perrottet for a strong pre-commitment model that can work,and already does in other jurisdictions.
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In fact,a pre-commitment model was recommended by theProductivity Commission in 2010,and fiercely opposed byClubs NSW. A number of pre-commitment trials have been run in Australia,includingQueensland andSouth Australia. These were inconclusive,mainly because they were voluntary and not widespread. However,gamblers who participated did identify benefits. Further voluntary trials will simply repeat these results. They are not necessary.
In Victoria,a voluntary pre-commitment system,YourPlay,has been in place for some years. Again,because of its voluntary nature,uptake has been low,butevaluation indicates those who do use it find it helpful. The cost of establishing YourPlay,which links all poker machines in the state,was$57.1 million,with annual running costs of around $11 million – a bargain in the context of the $2.6 billion spent each year on poker machines inVictoria. It could be converted readily into a universal pre-commitment system if required.
About$7 billion will be lost on poker machines in NSW this year,most of it in clubs,and mainly from the most disadvantaged suburbs. Much of this will be from the proceeds of crime,according to the Crime Commission. A larger proportion will come from harmful,addicted gambling – the Productivity Commission estimated this at 40 per cent or more,which isconfirmed by global estimates.