Here’s how gambling laws change in September 2022

From 1 September 2022 the following changes under the Gambling and Liquor Legislation Amendment Act 2022 come into effect. These changes are:

• A minor gaming permit is only required to conduct a raffle where the prize is above $20,000 – this means community and charitable organisations only need a permit to conduct a raffle if the total value of the raffle prize is above $20,000 (rather than $5,000, which was the previous threshold).
• New offences for conducting bingo, fundraising events and lucky envelopes online – this means a person cannot sell lucky envelopes, conduct bingo or sell bingo tickets via a website or any other online platform or interface (some exceptions apply to online bingo, including an exception for bingo tickets sold via PET machines at bingo centres). The legislation also clarifies that a minor gaming permit does not allow the permit holder to conduct a fundraising event either wholly or partly online.
• 24 hour clearance of electronic gaming machine (EGM) winnings of $2,000 or more paid via electronic funds transfer (EFT) – venue operators must ensure EGM winnings of $2,000 or more that are paid out via EFT are not transferred to the patron until 24 hours after the request by the patron to have these funds paid via EFT.
• Casino operator allowed to pay out EGM winnings via EFT in the same circumstances as venue operators – instead of paying out EGM winnings of $2,000 or more via cheque only, the casino operator can also pay out winnings via EFT, but only in the same circumstances as venue operators. This means that EGM winnings of $2,000 or more paid out via EFT must not be transferred to the patron until 24 hours after the request by the patron to have these funds paid via EFT.
• Higher penalty offence for agents of the wagering and betting licensee for allowing a minor to gamble - agents of the wagering and betting licensee will be subject to the higher penalty offence of 120 units under section 10.7.3(1) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 for allowing a minor to gamble (rather than 20 units under  section 10.7.3(2)).
• Interactive games will no longer be regulated under the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 – this means people cannot apply for an interactive gaming licence. Interactive gambling is currently regulated at a national level under the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 (Cth).
• Major licensees must now wait for 12 months to pay unclaimed prizes to the Treasurer – the wagering and betting, keno and public lottery licensees must pay the Treasurer any unclaimed prizes after 12 months (instead of 6 months). People will have 12 months to make a claim for winnings from these licensees, after which they’ll need to apply to the State Revenue Office.

Read more about the above legislative changes on our website. This page also has information on the gambling changes that commenced in June 2022, including information on other changes that will commence at a later stage.