The Minns Labor Government is acting to revoke outdated exemptions that are enabling pubs and clubs to vary the hours their venues can operate gaming machines.
Following months of review and consideration, Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris has announced that a repeal of variations will take effect from 31 March 2026 to provide venues with sufficient notice to adapt their business operations.
The Government will work closely with venues to ensure an ordered transition.
Under law, NSW venues must shut down all gaming machines between 4am to 10am each day of the week.
The six-hour shutdown is a harm minimisation measure intended to provide players with an important break in play, so patrons go home, get 'out of the zone' and reflect upon their behaviour.
A 2023 report - The Impact of electronic gaming machine (EGM) late night play on EGM player behaviour - showed 70.5% of EGM gamblers between 4am and 10am are classified as high risk or moderate risk gamblers.
More than 670 venues have a varied shutdown period for a variety of reasons, including being in high traffic 'tourist' locations, history of earlier opening hours and experiencing financial hardship, with many of the variations in place for more than 20 years.
A Review of Gaming Machine Shutdown Hours conducted by Liquor & Gaming NSW in 2024 found that a minimum 6-hour shutdown period, commencing no later than 4am, is effective at minimising gambling harm.
The review found no evidence to justify changing the start time or extending the length of the shutdown hours.
L&GNSW's findings were referred to the Independent Panel for Gaming Reform.
In its Roadmap for Gaming Reform published late last year, the Independent Panel recommended all existing variations to the minimum 6-hour shutdown period be repealed to allow for a uniform shutdown period, with a transition period for venues.
Minister Harris has acted on the review's findings and Independent Panel's recommendation to repeal the variations.
For venues that believe they have a strong case for an exemption under the legislation and the revised Ministerial Guidelines, they will have the opportunity to respond to Liquor and Gaming NSW to put their case forward to justify their eligibility for a continued variation.
Any application for continued exemptions will need to meet new tougher guidelines and will be subject to a decision by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
The move continues an array of gaming reforms the Government has implemented since coming into office, including:
- Reducing the cash input limit from $5,000 to $500 for all new gaming machines
- Reducing the state-wide cap on gaming machine entitlements, so that every year the number of gaming machines reduces based on forfeiture rates
- Banning political donations from clubs with electronic gaming machines
- Banning external gaming-related signage and internal gaming-related signage that can be seen from outside the venue
- Introducing Responsible Gambling Officers in venues with more than 20 gaming machine entitlements
- Mandating that all venues with gaming machines must keep a Gaming Plan of Management and a Gambling Incident Register
- Banning gambling advertising on public transport and the ferries and terminals people catch it from
Consulting with the community on a third-party exclusion scheme and use of mandatory facial recognition technology to support a statewide exclusion register for NSW hotels and clubs with gaming machines.
Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris said:
"The Minns Labor Government takes gambling harm minimisation seriously and these changes are a continuation of measures we are making to protecting people in NSW who are experiencing harm.
"Following months of review, it is clear the 20-year-old variations enabling more than 670 clubs and pubs with gaming machines to operate outside of the mandated hours were no longer fit for purpose.
"So I have acted to revoke these variations and update the application process, in a phased way so that venues can still make their case to vary their hours.
"The NSW Government will continue to deliver evidence-based reforms to ensure we are striking the balance of addressing gambling harm while supporting an industry that contributes billions to the NSW economy and employs more than 150,000 people."
