The Brumby Government in Australia’s state of Victoria is seeking public comment on proposed legislation to underpin gaming machine entitlements and monitoring arrangements for 2012 and beyond. Gaming Minister Tony Robinson has announced that feedback on the Gambling Regulation Further Amendment (Licensing) Bill Exposure Draft is important in providing further stakeholder and community input to the proposed post-2012 licensing arrangements.

“In April 2008, the Government announced that Victoria’s gaming industry would transition from the current gaming operator duopoly to a venue-operator structure in 2012. The Exposure Draft provides the information venues need to decide if they want to participate in the industry post 2012.” He added, “We have announced a new industry framework that gives venues more control of their gaming operations, makes them more accountable to their local communities and gives them an opportunity to receive a much greater share of gaming revenue while keeping the Government aggregate tax broadly similar.”

The Exposure Draft details a new progressive tax system applying to each venue’s average monthly per gaming machine revenue. A tax-free threshold is proposed to help small not for profit club venues. Current arrangements, including the 50/50 distribution of gaming machines between clubs and hotels; the commitment that no more than 80% of gaming machines will be allocated within metropolitan Melbourne; the regional caps policy; and the maximum limit of 105 machines per venue; will remain in place post 2012.

Mr Robinson said the Exposure Draft was the result of a rigorous review of gaming machine arrangements that included consultation with stakeholders and the community. The proposed provisions will discourage speculative bidding and prohibit profit sharing. The Government is to introduce a single monitoring licence to oversee the integrity of gaming machine transactions from 2012 and there will be a competitive licence awarding process for the new 10-year monitoring licence.

Submissions to the Exposure Draft Bill on gaming machine arrangements close on 13 January 2009. Submissions to the Monitoring Discussion Paper close on 16 January 2009. It has been reported that Tatts Group is interested in the monitoring licence role. Both Tattersall’s and Tabcorp are pursuing compensation following Victoria’s decision to terminate their gaming machine duopoly. The companies say the obligation to pay compensation is contained in the Gambling Regulation Act. (E-12.12.08)

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