New South Wales (NSW) will require facial recognition technology at gaming room entrances in every pub and club with poker machines from 2028, alongside a new statewide gambling exclusion register.
The timetable was included in the state government’s latest gaming reform package, announced and published Tuesday. The register will replace existing venue-based arrangements, allowing a person to exclude themselves from approximately 2,100 pubs and clubs operating about 87,000 poker machines across the state.
Gaming and Racing Minister David Harris told news.com.au that the current system allows someone excluded from one venue to simply “go down the road to a different venue.”
“Under this system, the whole exclusion system would apply to every venue in the state,” Harris said.
Facial recognition cameras installed at gaming room entrances will alert staff when an excluded person enters. The new framework will also allow third-party exclusion applications, including requests from family members, although affected players will retain appeal rights.
Liquor & Gaming NSW introduced a voluntary facial recognition code for pubs and clubs in March. The code covers privacy, data handling, security and staff responses and was intended to prepare venues for future mandatory requirements. The latest package sets 2028 as the implementation date for both the mandatory technology and statewide register.
The government will also upgrade its Centralized Monitoring System over the next two years to support account-based gaming. Venues will decide whether to offer account-based play, while customers may continue using cash.
Other measures include ending gaming-linked VIP programs, restricting unsolicited direct marketing, reducing gaming machine entitlements and banning gambling advertising on NSW government and council-owned assets.
