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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-02-24 Daily Xml
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GAMBLING SECTOR REFORM

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (14:40): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Gambling.

Leave granted.

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER: I understand that, arising from the agreement between the commonwealth government and Mr Andrew Willkie MP, discussions are currently taking place between the commonwealth and state governments on reforms to the gambling sector. I also understand that South Australia will play a key role in these discussions, as we are one of only two states that have recently conducted a precommitment trial. Will the minister update the chamber on upcoming commonwealth-state discussions on the subject of reform of the gambling sector?

The Hon. B.V. FINNIGAN (Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for Gambling) (14:41): I can advise the chamber that I will be attending the next meeting of the select council on gambling, which is in Canberra tomorrow, Friday 25 February. As the Minister for Gambling, I am one of two South Australian representatives on the select council. The first and I believe the only meeting of the select council in the past was held on 22 October last year and attended by the then minister for gambling, the Hon. Mr Koutsantonis from the other place.

At the meeting tomorrow, on behalf of the government, I will be presenting part 1 of a two-part paper on precommitment. Part 1 discusses the concepts and evidence base for precommitment. The second part of the paper looks at the functionality, practicality, costs and benefits of implementing precommitment and will be presented at the select council meeting in May.

Members may be aware that South Australia has recently completed two voluntary precommitment trials—a technology-based system and a non-technology-based approach for small venues. A third technology-based trial is currently underway. These trials have taught us a number of lessons. Overall, players in the technology trial who set a limit reduced their spend, and the reduction was greatest for problem gamblers and moderate risk gamblers.

The trial also found that recreational gamblers were less impacted as they only slightly reduced their spend. During the trial, a subtle messaging system was also tested on a group of patrons who had not set limits. Based on those results, a subtle messaging system appears to be effective. Overall, patrons who received the subtle messages at three turnover points decreased their spend.

A successful implementation of a precommitment system across the industry would require an awareness campaign, and patrons would need to educate themselves about how to work out a reasonable limit in accordance with their budget. The trial also found that venue staff and patron engagement will be vital to the success of any precommitment system. Staff can help precommitment to work by advising the patron about limits they can set to suit their budgets and by attending a machine where a limit breach has occurred.

The trial found that, where this occurred, patrons were likely to play for less time where a staff member attended a machine, as opposed to where a staff member did not respond. The critical finding is that precommitment will work for patrons who want to set a budget. The system can be of benefit to all patrons and should not be seen as a program only for problem gamblers.

As I have indicated in the house before, the government is committed to undertaking an evidence-based approach to developing a precommitment policy, and the trials form a valuable part of guiding this policy development. South Australia takes the view that evidence to date suggests voluntary registration and more subtle consequences may be a more effective policy for addressing problem gambling than necessarily mandatory precommitment. The South Australian government will encourage this same approach to precommitment at a national level at the meeting tomorrow.

Under the agreement between the Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, and the Member for Denison in the federal House of Representatives, Mr Willkie, the commonwealth government has committed to legislate to achieve gambling reforms if an agreement between states and territories can not be reached by 31 May this year. Therefore, the May meeting of the select council on gambling will be very important in determining whether agreement between the commonwealth and the states and territories can be reached. I will update the chamber about the outcomes of the select council's meetings in the coming months.

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