Hospitality and Racing deputy secretary Tarek Barakat has revealed the government is still considering introducing a statewide self-exclusion scheme.
“For the statewide exclusion register, we’ve actually gone to tender and are in the midst of a tender procurement process to appoint an expert third-party provider to look at how we could establish a whole-state exclusion scheme,” he told budget estimates last week.
Barakat noted how facial recognition technology is being considered for the system.
“Ideally, the statewide exclusion register would be supported by facial recognition to make it really robust across the state, and that will, equally, help support a third-party exclusion scheme,” he said.
It comes as NSW Minister for Gaming David Harris tells estimates how the government is working to figure out the “best system” – whether it’s cashless gaming or not – to minimise gaming harm.
Harris pinpointed the public’s lack of trust in government is to blame for the state government’s failed cashless gaming trial.
During the trial, a total of 14 licensed venues in across NSW participated in the expanded cashless gaming trial, despite the initial announcement indicating there would be 27 clubs and hotels approved by the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform to take part in the expanded trial. There were only 32 active users participating in the trial, even though 207 people had signed up.
“It was low because fundamentally the punters don’t trust governments in general,” Harris explained.
“They don’t trust people having possession of their personal details, and that’s what makes this complex.
“Whatever system we put in place, we have to address those issues. That was really valuable information from the trial. The Premier’s right – in terms of uptake, it showed that this is a difficult question.”
The government has yet to respond to the independent panel on gaming reform’s roadmap for gaming reform report, which was delivered in November 2024.
Harris said there’s a “myriad of issues” contained within the report, which he said government is “still going through fine detail [and] talking to industry in developing our plan for the pathway forward”.
“It’s important. This is a major reform. It’s a reform that, if you like, has been 30 years in the making. It’s really important that government gets it correct, that we pull the right levers at the right time, for two reasons,” he said.
“One is that we need to minimise harm, in terms of people who experience gambling issues. We have to look at how technology can help us deal with money laundering and criminal activities in venues.
“We also have to be very understanding of the economic issues, particularly in regional New South Wales, of impacts of regulation. This is incredibly complex. We don’t want to get it wrong.
“We found with other legislation that government’s done in the past, there are a range of unintended consequences. We don’t want unintended consequences. We want to make sure, when we make decisions and we go out to industry, that they’re going to invest in the right places, with the right technology, to get the best outcomes.”
On whether the government believes cashless gaming would one of the better ways to reduce gambling harm, Harris said, “that’s still out for debate”. He pointed to Victoria’s cashless gaming trial that’s about to get underway as an example.
“We’re watching Victoria … part of our consultation has been talking to them, particularly around cross-border issues … and understanding where things are moving and how technology is changing,” he said.
“We could say we’re going to go and do a carded account system. That could be redundant in a year, given the changes in technology.”
This piece was first published by our sister publication, Club Management.