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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-10-29 Daily Xml
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SA LOTTERIES

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Government Enterprises a question about SA Lotteries being a global leader in social responsibility.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.P. WORTLEY: Since 1967, SA Lotteries has been conducting lotteries in South Australia. The organisation's goals, which are set out at the beginning of its annual report, include:

to promote, conduct and distribute lottery gains for the benefit of the South Australian community;

to optimise profits through the effective allocation of resources; and

to be a corporately responsible and respected organisation that has a broad base of community support.

My question to the minister is: can you tell the council what actions are undertaken by SA Lotteries to ensure that it operates in a socially responsible manner?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:49): I am very proud to inform the council that SA Lotteries has been formally recognised by the World Lottery Association as operating at the highest level of responsible gambling standards. SA Lotteries is the only Australian lotteries jurisdiction to be acknowledged as having reached this standard. The World Lottery Association is truly global in scope, with membership made up of state lottery and gaming organisations from 90 different countries spread over five continents. All World Lottery Association members contribute the majority of their net revenues to good causes.

There are four levels of accreditation for responsible gambling standards, and all World Lottery Association members are required to adhere to the most basic level, level I. SA Lotteries has achieved the highest level, level 4 accreditation, which means that it has demonstrated a mature and well-established responsible gambling program inherent in its day-to-day operations, with a focus on continuous improvement of its program.

In accordance with the State Lotteries Act 1966, SA Lotteries adheres to the Independent Gambling Authority approved State Lotteries Advertising Code of Practice and State Lotteries Responsible Gambling Code of Practice. All SA Lotteries' agents display responsible gambling material, including brochures, posters, gambling helpline cards and stickers, in accordance with the code.

SA Lotteries agents are trained to provide information on gambling help services to suspected problem gamblers or to players requesting this information. These instances are first reported to the SA Lotteries internal problem gambling report group, which is convened when reports of incidents are received, allowing further action to be considered. I understand that, during 2009-10, there were six reports. Four of the six individuals affected requested self-initiated barring arrangements and, as a consequence, SA Lotteries developed a process to facilitate barring requests from problem gamblers modelled on the process currently applied to other gambling providers.

I am advised that SA Lotteries provides responsible gambling refresher training to agency staff every two years in accordance with the responsible gambling code of practice. A log is maintained by SA Lotteries to ensure the completion of refresher training. I understand that SA Lotteries operates a stringent audit and compliance program to ensure the ongoing compliance of its agents and all requirements of the codes of practice. Agencies are audited for compliance at least once a year.

An annual independent audit of SA Lotteries' compliance with the Independent Gambling Authority codes has been conducted by KPMG. KPMG reports the outcome of the annual audit to the Independent Gambling Authority, and I am pleased to inform the council that the April 2010 audit identified full compliance. I also ask members to note the dedication of SA Lotteries to responsible gambling and to congratulate it for its achievement in having that dedication recognised internationally.

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