NSW LIBERAL Vs LABOUR GAMING POLICY COMPARISON

The NSW State election is on Saturday, 23 March 2019.  Gaming policy documents have now been released ahead of the election by both the Liberal/National Coalition and Labor Party. Each party has outlined their vision of where they believe gaming and club/hotel related policy should remain stable, as well as some new introductions to gaming policy they plan to make. The table below outlines some of the main points of policy for each party.

For the full policy documents for NSW Liberal/Nationals click here >>>> https://www.thedrop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/MoU-LIB-NATS-with-Clubs-NSW.pdf

For the full policy documents for NSW Labor click here >>>> https://www.thedrop.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/NSW-Labor-Gaming-Club-Policies.pdf

Highlights of Gaming Policy for Lib vs Lab

Policy Area	Liberal/Nationals	Labor
General	Ensure stable operating conditions, benefits for the community and employment	Provide clubs with certainty and stability
General	Clubs in NSW also employ 43,000 people including about 23,000 in regional communities	Create better and more secure jobs for club workers, especially in regional areas
General	Recognises clubs are often a key point of connection in communities	Ensure clubs continue to be a vibrant part of local communities.
Tax	maintain the current clubs gaming tax	maintain the current clubs gaming tax
ClubGRANTS	continue to recognise the club industry’s contribution to the community through the scheme and maintain contribution rebate
Club GRANTS	Expand Category 1 and 2 ClubGRANTS in LGAs impacted by drought to include drought support measures
Jobs – Training	Establishing a regional club trainee employment program with ClubsNSW, to support job creation in regional NSW.
Leave		Work with ClubsNSW to investigate the implementation of a portable long-service leave scheme
Update Registered Clubs Act	Modernise outdated provisions in the Registered Clubs Act 1976 -reducing red tape
Music		Will amend the Liquor Act 2007 to remove blanket bans and restrictions on live music and entertainment in clubs
Licences for entitlement brokers		Labor will introduce a licensing requirement for gaming machine entitlement brokers
Sign-ins	Will work with ClubsNSW to modernise the club sign-in and membership process using digital technology	Will work with ClubsNSW to modernise club sign-in and membership processes using digital technology
Bus restrictions		Labor will examine restricting the operation of buses operated by any gaming venue so that the buses only operate within the venue’s local area
Director/Manager Training		Labor will expand training for club directors and managers to require leaders of small clubs to complete training regarding financial management and insolvency awareness.
Penalty rates		Labor supports the payment of penalty rates, including to club workers in not-for-profit clubs
3rd party self-exclusion	Introduce a new range of gambling harm minimisation measures including third-party exclusion and prize and jackpot forfeitures for excluded gamblers	Labor will introduce a third-party self-exclusion scheme for clubs and hotels
Responsible Gambling	Reducing the cash input limit from $7500 to $5000
Gaming Policy	Continue exploring via the technology working group how modern gaming features can be introduced in a responsible manner
Gaming Policy	Explore modern payment technologies including setting up pre-commitment limits, while maintaining the existing ban on credit card use