The Attorney-General, Gordon Ramsay has unveiled a range of new incentives for Canberra community clubs to reduce their reliance on gaming machines and to tackle gambling harm.
Mr Ramsay said he was committed to reducing the number of poker machines in the Territory to 4,000.
“Clubs play an important role in our community, and this package of incentives is about making sure clubs can continue to be there for the people of Canberra, while reducing their reliance on gaming machines,” Mr Ramsay said.
“We want to minimise harm to the community and have a strong, sustainable, diverse and community-focused club sector.”
He said all clubs who voluntarily surrendered authorisations would be able to access offsets for land-related fees and charges, including lease variation charges, to make it easier for them to redevelop their land for activities other than playing pokies.
“Clubs will also have access to a new Diversification Support Fund, which will be jointly funded by industry and Government to help clubs pursue a future away from gaming machines and support club staff to develop new skills,” Mr Ramsay said.
He said small and medium clubs would be eligible for up to $12,000 for every gaming machine authorisation they voluntarily surrendered by 31 January 2019 and clubs that opted to go pokie-free would be rewarded with a 25 per cent bonus on top of any incentives they claimed.
“If a reduction to 4,000 authorisations is not achieved through voluntary surrender, there will be a two-stage compulsory surrender of authorisations in April 2019 and April 2020,” Mr Ramsay said.
“Once we hit the 4,000 mark, the number of authorisations will continue to decline as one-in-four will be forfeited when clubs trade authorisations.”
