Caroline Lamb, the ILGA chairperson, said: “The authority has been concerned for some time about the impact of late night and early morning gaming on individuals, families and communities. As part of our statutory obligation to minimise gaming-related harm, ILGA will make use of the study’s conclusions to inform future decisions.
"ILGA has implemented several measures to minimise gambling harm and address concerns about applications that increase the availability of gaming machines after midnight. We have developed Guideline 16 to help gaming venues reduce gambling harm after midnight and foster the responsible conduct of gambling.
"This includes a preference that all gaming-related applications are required to be accompanied by a Gaming Plan of Management that contains a raft of measures designed to support licensees to minimise gambling relating harm in venues.”
Lamb added: “ILGA also imposes licence conditions on gaming-related applications to mitigate the risk of gambling-related harm.”
Additionally, the Impact of Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) Late Night Play on EGM Player Behaviours study revealed that individuals who played pokie machines in the early hours of the morning experienced significantly more gambling harm.
According to the study, nearly two-thirds of those who play pokie between 2 am and 8 am face serious consequences.
The Responsible Gambling Fund of the NSW Government funded the study, which Roy Morgan Research carried out with assistance from Liquor & Gaming NSW.
