Only 16% of NSW Adults Trust Government to Stand Up to Gambling Industry, Survey Finds

Wesley Mission’s campaign has grown beyond the measures it had previously concentrated on, with seven reforms now forming its platform regarding NSW pokies laws:

• Poker machines switched off from midnight to 10 AM every day.
• Mandatory account-based gambling with binding loss limits.
• An independent statewide self-exclusion register covering every pub and club.
• Greater community involvement in decisions about poker machines in local areas.
• Venue-level gambling loss figures and independent measurement of gambling harm.
• A legislated share of poker machine tax revenue returned to communities for prevention, treatment and other support.
• A measurable reduction in poker machine numbers, particularly in communities experiencing higher levels of gambling harm.

The addition of a requirement to return part of poker machine tax revenue to communities gives the campaign a different argument from one based only on machine rules. Wesley Mission wants the amount set through legislation rather than left to individual funding announcements.

Its chief executive, Rev Stu Cameron, said the government could not continue collecting gambling taxes without taking greater responsibility for the harm associated with gambling.

The campaign is also pushing for rules that would apply automatically rather than relying on individual players or venues to opt in. That puts it at odds with one of the central parts of the NSW Government’s current plan.

The government announced its latest Gaming Reform Package in August, including a new statewide exclusion register, mandatory facial recognition at gaming-room entrances, an end to pokies-linked VIP programs and tighter restrictions on gambling advertising.

It is also spending the next two years upgrading the Centralised Monitoring System used by NSW poker machines so it can support account-based gambling. That does not mean every player will be required to use an account.

The government’s published policy says the upgraded system would allow venues to introduce account-based play at their discretion. Players could therefore continue gambling anonymously at venues that did not require accounts, while participating venues could offer a registered system that records play and provides monthly spending statements.

Wesley Mission wants that choice removed. Under its proposal, account-based gambling would become mandatory, and players would have binding loss limits attached to their accounts, similar to the plans being discussed at Canberra.

This debate has been running for several years. The Independent Panel on Gaming Reform recommended that NSW move to mandatory statewide account-based gambling once the central system was operational, with 2028 used as an estimated timetable.

The government’s August package stopped short of committing to that final mandatory stage. Instead, it committed to building the infrastructure that could support it.

NSW poker machines are generally required to shut down between 4 AM and 10 AM.

Earlier this year, the government removed old exemptions that had allowed more than 650 pubs and clubs to operate machines for longer. By April, most of those venues were required to follow the standard six-hour shutdown.

Liquor & Gaming NSW has since started checking compliance. Its October enforcement campaign found breaches at several venues, including the Crown Hotel in Camden and East Cessnock Bowling Club.

The government is now reviewing whether to change the mandatory shutdown period again. Wesley Mission doesn’t want to wait for that review before choosing the hours. Its campaign calls for every poker machine in NSW pubs and clubs to be switched off from midnight until 10 AM, extending the current shutdown by four hours.

A separate Wesley Mission survey release said 72% of NSW adults supported that proposal. It also reported 78% support for a single statewide self-exclusion register independent of the gambling industry.

Not every demand from the 55-organisation campaign sits outside the government’s plans.

NSW has already committed to creating a statewide exclusion register, which is expected to become operational in 2028. People would be able to exclude themselves once rather than approaching individual venues separately.

Facial recognition technology would be mandatory at gaming-room entrances to help enforce those exclusions. The government is also introducing a third-party exclusion scheme that would eventually allow family members, friends, police and venues to initiate exclusions in certain circumstances.

Other measures in the August package include increasing the number of poker machine entitlements removed when they are traded, introducing a falling statewide cap on machine numbers and giving venues the option to surrender entitlements voluntarily.

NSW currently has around 87,000 poker machines operating across roughly 2,100 hotels and clubs.

The timing of the Parliament House launch puts gambling policy back into the state political debate before voters go to the polls in March 2027.

Wesley Mission was joined at the launch by community organisations, lived-experience advocates and politicians including independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich. The 55 supporting groups include welfare organisations, faith groups and community service providers.

The NSW Government began GambleAware Week on 19 October with a campaign focused on making gambling harm easier to recognise and discuss. It is also providing an additional $20 million to the Responsible Gambling Fund over two years as part of its wider gaming reforms.

Wesley Mission’s campaign is asking for changes further upstream, particularly rules that would restrict access to poker machines before someone reaches the point of seeking counselling or excluding themselves.

The argument over account-based play will probably be the clearest test of how far either side is prepared to go.

The government is building the technology needed to introduce it across NSW. The Independent Panel recommended eventually making it compulsory. Wesley Mission and its 54 campaign partners want that requirement written into the rules, together with binding loss limits.

For now, NSW venues are still expected to be able to decide whether they offer account-based play once the upgraded monitoring system is ready.