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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-11-26 Daily Xml
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Gambling Administration Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 14 November 2019.)

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (16:35): I rise to speak on behalf of the opposition on the Gambling Administration Bill 2019, noting however that there is also the Statutes Amendment (Gambling Regulation) Bill as part of the government's gambling reform package. Much of my contribution today will refer also to that bill.

These reforms are largely based on several findings of the review conducted into gambling by Tim Anderson QC in 2017. The government has already progressed some gambling reforms, notably the abolition of the Independent Gambling Authority, with its regulatory powers transferred to the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Liquor and Gambling. I wish to indicate that the opposition will be supporting this bill.

A range of amendments were made to both the bills that are related to each other in the other house, and the opposition was pleased to see that the government accepted a number of suggestions that would help to reduce the incidence of problem gambling. Indeed, South Australia will be a leader in Australia in terms of mandatory facial recognition, which may well have a significant impact on problem gambling. There is also a maximum billing limit being introduced.

One thing the opposition was particularly pleased with was the commitment from the government to have an investigation next year into online gambling. Online gambling has grown exponentially in the last few years, and when these acts were first around online gambling was not even in existence and possibly could not have been contemplated. The extreme difficulties with online gambling and addictions in that space means it is absolutely imperative that we have an investigation into it, because that is where so much of the problem now lies.

The Gambling Administration Bill seeks to repeal the Gambling Administration Act of 1995 and replace it with a new act that consolidates the administrative and regulatory functions of the commissioner. It also introduces consistent powers of inspection, investigation and enforcement across different licensed gambling activities. It also seeks, I am advised, to make changes to the regime of barring orders, including making it easier for a person to be barred and also to shift the focus away from responsible gambling to instead address the harms of misuse and abuse of gambling activities.

As I mentioned, the various amendments that were introduced in the other place have improved this bill to a large degree, and the opposition will therefore be supporting this bill.

Debated adjourned on motion of Hon. T.J. Stephens.

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