ClubsNSW introduces industry code of conduct

ClubsNSW (New South Wales) has released an industry code of conduct, promising various reforms.

Such reforms include measures to ban problem gamblers from venues, welfare checks on poker machine players every three hours and staff training to identify key problem gambling indicators. Moreover, every club would have a responsible gambling officer.

Also under the code, patrons seeking credit for gambling, borrowing money from others or stealing money to gamble would be offered counselling and automatically banned from gaming rooms. Furthermore, family members would be able to request an exclusion for those experiencing gambling harm, with suspected money launderers to be banned for life.

“Clubs have always been the safest places to gamble and they are about to become even safer,” said ClubsNSW Chief Executive Josh Landis.

It comes ahead of the election in March, and amid the latest industry data which shows that gamblers lose almost AU$1m (US$710m) every hour on NSW pokies.

Ahead of the election, political parties have been facing pressure to introduce cashless gaming, following a NSW Crime Commission report which found that billions of dollars in dirty money was being laundered through machines every year.

But ClubsNSW has rejected the calls for a cashless card, believing it would not be effective at reducing the problem overall.

Premier Dominic Perrottet is, however, very much in favour of cashless gaming, saying: “I’ve also made it very clear, the destination is cashless gaming in NSW. This is something you get one chance at solving the problem.

“We need to do everything we can in relation to reducing problem gambling in NSW.”