Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

Statement of compatibility

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (10:44): In accordance with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, I table a statement of compatibility in relation to the Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2025:

Opening paragraphs

In accordance with section 28 of the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006, (Charter), I make this Statement of Compatibility with respect to the Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2025.

In my opinion, the Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, as introduced to the Legislative Assembly, is compatible with human rights as set out in the Charter. I base my opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement.

Human Rights Issues

Section 12 of the Charter provides that every person lawfully within Victoria has the right to move freely within Victoria.

Clause 71 of the Bill amends the requirements that apply in relation to voluntary exclusion orders at the casino. An exclusion order prohibits the person from entering or remaining on casino premises. Under the amendments, it is an offence if a casino operator does not issue an exclusion order to a person upon voluntary application by the person. This is a change from the current provision, which affords the casino operator discretion in deciding whether to issue an exclusion order upon request.

Clause 71 also reduces the regulatory burden on a person seeking a voluntary exclusion order by providing that an application no longer needs to be witnessed.

The purpose of clause 71 is to strengthen the regulatory framework for voluntary exclusion orders. While the government is not aware of any situation in which the casino operator has or would refuse to issue an exclusion order upon request, this change will close a potential loophole. Self-exclusion is an important mechanism to address gambling harm.

Clause 71 contains minor amendments to the existing exclusion framework and does not limit the right to move freely within Victoria. If it does limit the right to move freely within Victoria, any limitation is reasonable in accordance with section 7 of the Charter, because it only applies in circumstances where a person has voluntarily requested to be issued with an exclusion order.

The Hon Anthony Carbines MP

Minister for Police

Minister for Community Safety

Minister for Victims

Minister for Racing

Second reading

Anthony CARBINES (Ivanhoe – Minister for Police, Minister for Community Safety, Minister for Victims, Minister for Racing) (10:44): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I ask that my second-reading speech be incorporated into Hansard.

Incorporated speech as follows:

The Bill I am introducing amends the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 and the Casino Control Act 1991 to improve the regulatory framework for gambling in Victoria.

The Bill makes important changes to the legislative framework for the gaming machine monitoring licence and public lottery licences to provide flexibility for the government in future licensing processes to yield the best outcomes for the state.

The Bill also makes provision for the removal of cheques from the Australian financial system and will reduce the barriers to voluntary exclusion at the Melbourne casino.

The Bill will also make some minor and technical amendments to ensure Victoria’s gambling legislation is clear and consistent.

I now turn to the provisions of the Bill before the House.

The Bill makes changes to the monitoring licensing framework to provide options that will maximise the state’s ability to extract value for Victorians from monitoring services after the expiry of the current licence in 2027.

The Bill amends the requirements for the term of the monitoring licence to replace the current fixed term of 15 years with provisions that enable the licence term to be specified in the licence. This will enable the government to determine the most appropriate licence term at a point in time, having regard to best available evidence and an understanding of the value to the State.

The Bill also gives the government the power to require a premium payment as consideration for the monitoring licence.

The Bill will also enable the monitoring licensee to be directed to provide other regulatory compliance systems and mechanisms, such as anti-money laundering alert systems to assist venue operators to comply with their regulatory obligations.

In addition, the Bill makes other administrative and technical amendments to improve the process for directing a monitoring licensee to provide pre-commitment and other systems and to clarify the operation of the ownership restrictions to reduce uncertainty ahead of the licensing process.

The Bill also makes changes to the public lottery licensing framework ahead of the expiry of the current public lottery licence in 2028.

The Bill will give the state the power to issue a long-term extension of a public lottery licence and will modernise the licensing process to make it consistent with the licensing processes for the other major gambling licences.

These changes will maximise the state’s ability to extract value for Victorians from public lotteries after the expiry of the licence in 2028.

To complement the proposed changes to the monitoring licence and public lottery licence framework, the Bill includes amendments to clarify the functions of the independent Review Panel that reviews and reports on the licensing processes undertaken by government. The changes will align the Panel’s process with the modernised gambling licensing processes and simplify the process for the Minister to refer matters to the Panel for review.

The Bill includes amendments to enable the continued operation of pre-commitment at the Melbourne casino in periods of downtime where the casino systems are unable to communicate with the statewide pre-commitment system. The amendments will enable the casino operator to securely keep a temporary database of pre-commitment information, including players’ last known limits, to ensure the effective operation of the pre-commitment functions unless communication with the statewide system is re-established.

The Bill also includes amendments to address the proposed phasing out of the use of cheques from the Australian financial system. The Bill amends payment of winnings provisions for gaming venue operators, casino operators and bingo centre operators to ensure payment by electronic funds transfer is always a permitted alternative to payment by cheque.

The Bill will reduce barriers to voluntary exclusion at the Melbourne casino by ensuring the Melbourne casino operator is required to issue an exclusion order on request by a person and removing unnecessary administrative requirements for an application to be signed by a person who is authorised to witness a statutory declaration.

In addition to the substantive amendments to improve the operation of the gambling legislative framework, the Bill will amend the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 and the Casino Control Act 1991 to remove gender references.

I commend the Bill to the house.

Cindy McLEISH (Eildon) (10:44): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned for two weeks. Debate adjourned until Wednesday 16 April.