New laws increasing the amounts Canberra’s community clubs and hotels with gaming machines are required to contribute to the wider community have been introduced into the Legislative Assembly.
Attorney-General, Gordon Ramsay said the legislation would ensure more transparent and better targeted community contributions from the operation of gaming machines.
“Under these reforms, all clubs and for-profit hotels will be required to give an additional 0.8 per cent of their net gaming machine revenue for community purposes,” Mr Ramsay said.
Of this, he said, 0.4 per cent would go towards gambling harm prevention initiatives, and 0.4 per cent to the Chief Minister’s Charitable Fund administered to support community groups and programs.
“The changes we are making to the scheme are aimed at bringing it back to its central purpose to ensure the community gets more, not less,” Mr Ramsay said.
“The scheme will maximise the benefits to the community and ensure that clubs still carry out the purposes for which they were established: To serve the community.”
He said that under the new laws, clubs would be given greater guidance about what counted as a community contribution and what did not.
“The increased amount of community contributions will mean that gaming machine funds reach even more community groups, including those who do not have relationships with clubs,” Mr Ramsay said.
“It also means more funding will be available to protect the community from gambling harm.
“The legislation also introduces stronger penalties for failure to comply with gambling harm prevention rules,” he said.
