Gaming Machines Regulation 2019

The Regulation’s reach is deliberately wide. Primary duty-holders are hoteliers (licensees under the Liquor Act 2007) and registered clubs. They must appoint and support responsible gambling officers (cl 50B–50G), maintain incident registers (cl 50K), prepare and review gaming plans of management (cl 50P–50S), display all prescribed signage (cll 18, 22–24, 28A–28B), ensure 85 % return-to-player (cl 11(2)), reconcile meters monthly (cl 15), and guarantee large jackpots (cll 14, 87, 89). Clubs face additional board-reporting and dual-person clearance obligations (cll 12, 15, 17, 88).

Staff are directly affected. Responsible gambling officers (cl 50F) must identify harm, record incidents within 24 hours, notify management, and facilitate self-exclusion. All gaming staff must hold current RCG endorsements (cl 57(4A)). Directors of clubs and hotel-owning companies must complete advanced RCG training or board-oversight training (cl 57(4B)–(4D)). Technicians and nominees clearing/refilling machines must be recorded (cll 16, 17).

Suppliers and service providers are licensed and regulated under Part 4. Dealers must allocate serial numbers (cl 65), supervise manufacture/repair (cl 66), keep sale and defect records (cll 67, 69), and notify the Authority of integrity breaches. Sellers and technicians are restricted to approved premises (cl 70) and must not remove memory chips except in employment (cl 66(2)). CMS licensees and links-licence holders are subject to Ministerial direction, information-reporting, and integrity-preservation obligations (Part 8).

Players are indirectly regulated. They cannot use multi-terminal machines in hotels (cl 5), must be offered player-information brochures (cll 20–21), see danger warnings on every machine (cl 22), and are subject to cheque-cashing limits (cl 25) and large-prize payment delays (cl 26). Self-exclusion participants cannot withdraw for six months (cl 45(f)). Unclaimed jackpot or ticket winnings ultimately flow to the Community Development Fund (cll 84, 109).

Regulators—the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (the Authority), the Secretary of Liquor & Gaming NSW, police, and inspectors—receive mandatory reports, registers for inspection (cll 50M, 50R), and decision-making powers (threshold applications, approvals under cll 28, 50E, training-provider approvals under cl 58). Local councils, health districts and gambling-help organisations must be consulted on threshold increases (cll 32, 37).

Indirectly affected parties include banks (guarantees under cll 14, 87, 89), financial institutions providing player accounts (cl 94), and community organisations listed for consultation. The Regulation therefore creates a dense compliance web touching venue operators, employees at every level, machine suppliers, regulators, players, and support services.

Venue duties are prescriptive. A hotelier or club must ensure responsible gambling officers are on duty in the numbers required by cl 50C (one for 21–99 entitlements, scaling to three for 300+), with at least one (or two) maintaining visibility of machines between midnight and 8 am (cl 50D). Officers must identify at-risk patrons, inquire, record in the gambling incident register within 24 hours (cl 50F(1)(f)), and notify senior management of serious cases (cl 50F(1)(d)). Venues must not impede officers (cl 50G(e)), must address issues raised by officers (cl 50G(d)), and must review incident registers monthly for trends (cl 50N). A gaming plan of management must be prepared in the Secretary-approved form, address every listed harm-minimisation topic, include a venue plan showing machine and cash-dispensing locations, and be reviewed annually or on layout change (cl 50P–50S).

Signage and information duties are continuous: notices on chances of winning (cl 18), player brochures in English and other languages (cll 19–21), machine warnings (cl 22), counselling-service notices (cl 23), ATM/cash-back signage (cl 24), and prohibitions on gaming-machine advertising visible from cash facilities (cl 28B). Cheque rules are strict: no cashing for more than $400, no multiple cheques per person per day, banking within two working days (cl 25). Prize money over $5,000 must be paid by crossed cheque or EFT after 24 hours (cl 26). Player-activity statements must be issued monthly on request for reward schemes or player accounts (cll 42, 97) and contain turnover, wins, net expenditure, session times and disclaimers.

Licensing duties include serial-number allocation (cl 65), defect notification (cl 69), secure storage (cl 72), and change-of-circumstances reporting (cll 74, 122–123). Technicians must record prescribed work (cl 16) and may only operate from approved premises (cl 70). Dealers must not allow sales promotions that leave machines off-site for more than one month (cl 68).

Rights are limited but exist. Patrons may request brochures in other languages (cl 21), choose not to join reward schemes (cl 93), set weekly account limits (cl 99), and request self-exclusion (cl 45). Responsible gambling officers have statutory protection to raise concerns with the Secretary, venue or manager without contractual interference (cl 50J). Applicants for threshold increases have procedural rights to consultation periods and submission lodgement (cll 32, 37). Licensees may seek Authority approval for variations (cl 6, cl 142) or Secretary approval for reduced officer numbers where CMS connectivity is low (cl 50E).

Regulator rights include inspection of registers and plans (cll 50M, 50R), requirement for additional information on threshold applications (cl 33–34), and Ministerial powers to direct CMS equipment supply (cl 115), terminate contracts (cl 132), or require key-employee information (cl 126).

All duties are enforceable by penalty (see below) or disciplinary action under the Act.

Maximum penalties are predominantly 50 penalty units ($5,500 for individuals, $11,000 for corporations as at 2024). Examples include failing to display required notices (cl 18(1), 22(1), 23(1), 24(1)), breaching cheque rules (cl 25), locating cash facilities within 5 m of a gaming area without approval (cl 28(3)), not appointing sufficient responsible gambling officers (cl 50C), failing to record incidents within 24 hours (cl 50K(2)), not maintaining a gaming plan of management (cl 50P(2)), and operating a faulty progressive system (cl 80). Lower penalties apply to technician record failures (20 units—cl 16(2)), minor licensing breaches (20 units—cl 66–71), and competency-card inspection refusals (5 units—cl 56(2)).

Schedule 4 lists 70-plus penalty-notice offences with on-the-spot fines ranging from $55 (minor signage) to $2,750 (corporate harm-minimisation breaches). Serious or repeated breaches can trigger Authority disciplinary action under Act s 172 (cancellation, suspension, monetary penalties up to $250,000 for CMS licensees—cl 130) or Ministerial directions under Part 8 (cll 131–133).

Enforcement is multi-layered. Police and inspectors may inspect registers and plans immediately (cll 50M, 50R) and require competency cards (cl 56). The Secretary approves forms, training providers (cl 58), and officer-number reductions (cl 50E). The Authority determines threshold applications, grants licences, and can revoke progressive-system approvals (cl 119). Unclaimed jackpots and tickets must be paid to the Secretary for the Community Development or ClubGRANTS Funds (cll 82(3), 84(2), 109(4)). Remedial orders are available for breaches of signage, inducement, and self-exclusion provisions (cl 151).

The Regulation is expressly tied to the Gaming Machines Act 2001 (defined as “the Act” in cl 3(1)). It supplements Act ss 10 (State cap), 34–40 (thresholds), 43–47B (advertising and inducements), 49 (self-exclusion), 56–79 (authorisations, technical standards, technicians), 88–110 (licensing), 139 (CMS information), and 172 (disciplinary action).

It cross-references the Liquor Act 2007 for bar-area definitions, minors-area authorisations, approved managers, and club-amalgamation provisions (cll 8, 35, 49, 57). The Interpretation Act 1987 and Subordinate Legislation Act 1989 govern its own interpretation and repeal (Note to cl 2). Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and Work Health and Safety Act 2011 supply grounds for Secretary approval to locate cash facilities closer than 5 m (cl 28(4)–(6)). The Cheques Act 1986 (Cth) defines “cheque” and “crossed cheque” (cll 25(4), 26(3)). The Casino Control Act 1992 is referenced for Responsible Gambling Fund counselling services (cll 19, 32, 44).

Player-reward-scheme rules interact with Act s 45 and the Gaming Machine Tax Act 2001 (instalment periods—cl 76). Training requirements overlap with the Liquor Regulation 2018 RSA and licensee training (cll 51, 54, 57). CMS provisions interact with Act Part 10 and the Gaming and Liquor Administration Act 2007 (delegations—cl 60). Threshold LIAs must consider demographic data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (cl 34(3)(b)).

Federal laws appear indirectly: Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) defines “adverse action” for responsible-gambling-officer complaints (cl 50J(4)), and the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011 (Cth) defines registered training organisations (cl 58(15)).

The Regulation has been amended nine times since 2019, with the most significant changes in 2024 (250) and 2024 (633). The 2024 (250) amendments inserted Division 4A (responsible gambling officers—cll 50A–50J), Division 4B (incident registers and gaming plans—cll 50K–50S), substituted cash-dispensing rules (cl 28), added signage prohibitions (cll 28A–28B), expanded definitions (cl 3, cl 18A), and updated training obligations (cl 57). The 2024 (633) amendments fine-tuned officer numbers, CMS-connection thresholds for Secretary approvals (cl 50E), and plan content (cl 50P).

These changes respond to the 2018–2022 Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority reviews, the NSW Government’s 2022–2023 gambling-harm reduction strategy, and coronial and parliamentary pressure to move from passive signage to active intervention. The introduction of mandatory responsible gambling officers with defined duties (cl 50F), protected reporting rights (cl 50J), and monthly incident-register reviews (cl 50N) shifts the regulatory burden onto real-time human oversight. Gaming plans of management (cl 50P) force venues to document compliance with every harm-minimisation obligation, creating an auditable trail. The changes also tighten cash availability (cll 28–28B) and align training refreshers with liquor training cycles.

Transitional provisions (cll 153–155) give venues and training providers time to adapt. The overall policy direction is clear: after two decades of incremental tightening, the Regulation now treats gambling harm as a venue safety-and-wellbeing issue akin to alcohol harm minimisation under the Liquor Act.

The source text itself does not record specific court challenges; the Regulation is subordinate legislation and its validity would be tested by judicial review rather than ordinary prosecution appeals. However, the structure reveals likely flashpoints. Threshold-increase litigation has historically centred on the adequacy of local impact assessments (cll 33–34) and whether the Authority properly weighed social detriment against economic benefit (cl 34(5)–(6)). The 2024 insertion of responsible-gambling-officer visibility requirements between midnight and 8 am (cl 50D) and the prohibition on transferring those duties (cl 50F(3)) are likely to generate industrial disputes about rostering, fatigue, and work-health-and-safety overlap. Clause 50J’s protection against adverse action mirrors federal whistle-blower provisions and could produce Fair Work Commission claims.

Controversies in the industry have included the practical difficulty of identifying “at risk” patrons without invading privacy (cl 50F(1)(a)–(c)), the administrative burden of monthly register reviews and plan updates (cll 50N, 50S), and the cost of guaranteeing large progressive jackpots (cll 87, 89). The exclusion of the Sydney CBD from the “retail shopping centre” definition (cl 144, Sch 2) has long been criticised by inner-city councils as favouring large casinos over community venues. No specific High Court or NSW Court of Appeal decisions are cited in the Regulation, but the detailed procedural safeguards around threshold applications (consultation, submission periods, statutory declarations—cll 32, 37) suggest drafters anticipated merits-review or procedural-fairness challenges.

Most practitioners miss that the responsible-gambling-officer regime is not optional once a venue has 21 or more entitlements (cl 50C). A hotel with exactly 20 entitlements can operate without dedicated officers, but the moment it acquires one more, the full staffing, visibility, training and protection rules apply. The midnight-to-8 am visibility rule (cl 50D) is not satisfied by CCTV alone; the officer must maintain “visibility” (interpreted by Liquor & Gaming NSW as line-of-sight or immediate physical presence). Many venues discover too late that cl 50F(5) makes every on-duty officer personally responsible even when others are present—there is no “senior officer covers all” defence.

The gaming plan of management (cl 50P) must be in the Secretary’s exact approved form and must expressly address each of the ten enumerated topics (i)–(x). A generic “we comply with the law” document will not suffice and can trigger the 50-penalty-unit offence. Clause 50G(f) requires venues to inform officers of suspected at-risk patrons; failure to pass on information known to management is a separate breach even if the officer never observed the patron.

On the technical side, the serial-number format is rigid (cl 65(3)): two letters allocated by the Authority, six numbers, preceded by “X”. Deviations invalidate compliance. Unclaimed jackpot amounts from progressive systems must be paid to the Secretary within three months after the 12-month claim period (cl 84); many operators mistakenly treat them as venue revenue. Player-activity statements for reward schemes must include daily session times (cl 42(3)(e)) even if the participant only used the card on three days of the month—omission is a common audit failure.

Finally, the 2024 amendments apply to all venues immediately upon commencement; there is no general grandfathering except for the narrow training-provider transitions in cl 155. A venue that updated its incident register in January 2024 under the old regime must still comply with the new 24-hour recording and monthly-review rules from the amendment date.

Venue operators should begin with a gap analysis against the current gaming plan of management template published by Liquor & Gaming NSW. Populate the plan with the venue layout diagram, list of approved signage, RCG training register, responsible-gambling-officer rosters demonstrating cl 50C/50D compliance, and procedures for each cl 50P(3)(b) topic. Appoint officers in writing after the mandatory briefing required by cl 50B(3). Ensure every officer can produce a current recognised competency card with both standard and advanced RCG endorsements (or board-oversight training for directors—cl 57(4D)).

Install or verify all mandated notices in the precise Secretary-approved form and location (cll 18(2), 22(2), 23(2), 24(2)). Configure cash-dispensing facilities outside the 5 m radius or obtain a cl 28(6) approval supported by planning or WHS evidence. For clubs, implement dual-person clearance (cl 17) and monthly board reporting (cl 15(4), cl 88(8)). Set up the gambling incident register in the approved form (cl 50K(2)(a)), train all gaming staff on 24-hour recording obligations (cl 50L), and schedule monthly trend reviews (cl 50N).

Licensees and technicians must use only Authority-allocated dealer codes for serial numbers (cl 65), keep the full suite of records required by cl 67, and notify defects immediately (cl 69). Work records for technicians must contain the three mandatory fields (cl 16(1)(b)) and be delivered in writing to the venue the same day.

Training providers must use the Secretary-approved online assessment tool, collect the five data points listed in cl 58(6)(c), and pay the per-certificate fee. Only Certificate-IV-qualified trainers with the prescribed managerial experience may deliver advanced courses (cl 58(5)).

Ongoing compliance requires annual plan review (cl 50S), five-yearly RCG refresher training (cl 55), prompt reporting of changes in circumstances (cl 74, Sch 1), and immediate availability of registers and plans to inspectors (cll 50M, 50R). Venues should maintain a central compliance folder containing all Secretary approvals, training registers, monthly reconciliations, and statutory declarations used in threshold applications. Audit trails for progressive jackpot guarantees and meter readings must be retained for at least three years (cl 143). Where doubt exists on any Secretary-approved form or notice, obtain written confirmation from Liquor & Gaming NSW before relying on it—verbal advice is not an acceptable defence.

By treating the gaming plan of management as a living compliance manual, maintaining visible and supported responsible gambling officers, and embedding 24-hour incident-recording discipline, venues can convert the Regulation’s complexity into a defensible, auditable system that satisfies both the letter and the harm-minimisation policy of the law.