Gambling Regulation Act 2003

We are currently advocating for the Victorian Government to amend the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 to:

• require decision-makers at the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) to consider the social and economic impacts of increasing densities of EGMs in vulnerable communities at the local level or census collection district level
• require community benefits to be genuine and benefit those at most risk of harm from EGM gambling. The applicant would also be required to prove that there is a positive community benefit from increasing the number of EGMs, as opposed to the current 'will not be detrimental' test
• prohibit applications for new or increased numbers of EGMs in local communities (at suburb or statistical local area level) with below-average socio-economic indexes for areas scores where the EGM density is currently above, or will become above, the state average.

While the Gambling Regulation Act provides councils with the right to raise their concerns with the VCGLR about the social and economic impacts of proposed new or additional EGMs in their municipal district, experience has shown that these submissions – which are extremely costly and time-consuming to prepare – are given little weight by decision-makers.