Authorities in the Australian state of Victoria aim to start a three-month trial of carded play across about 40 venues in the state by mid-2025, before introducing the measure to all poker machines in Victoria.
That is according to a release by the Parliament of Victoria, following a vote on a carded play-focused legislation amendment, which passed the Legislative Assembly with a majority vote and moves on to the Legislative Council.
During a speech in the second reading, the state’s Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Minister Meilssa Horne indicated that the proposed law change would allow the government to set requirements on carded play for gaming machines in both hotels and clubs.
“This establishes the means to enable patrons to make better informed choices about their spending,” indicated the minister.
While the bill is a step towards carded play, across the state, is has drawn some criticism for its delayed rollout – as it was first introduced in November. It also has been critiqued for attempting to sidestep Parliament in understanding implementation impacts and timelines.
The bill also aims to set new spin rate limits for new EGMs to slow the rate of play at EGMs.
Others argue that the bill could limit the casual or social impact of gambling, especially for smaller venues.
The mandatory carded play is set to slot under the government’s current YourPlay framework, which has reduced the amount of money that be loaded into machines from AU$1,000 to AU$100. Spin rates are proposed to be increased to 3 seconds per spin from the current 2.3 seconds.
Carded play: account-based gambling
Carded play has become a major topic of conversation across Australian states.
Professor Sally Gainsbury recently spoke to AGB about efforts that the New South Wales government could be following through on, based upon a report from the Independent Panel for Gaming Reform.
Professor Gainsbury, the Director of the Gambling Treatment & Research Clinic at the University of Sydney expressed the need to transition to an ‘account-based’ system, that would make it equal for punters to either have a physical card, or an app.
While no timelines are yet in place for such an account-based system, the rates of those seeking help for problem gambling “have remained very steady”.
Given the complexity of each Australian state’s regulations regarding gambling, it is difficult to establish a nationwide approach, however each state could potentially learn from its peers’ successes of mistakes – paving the way for healthy gambling throughout Australia.
