Budget banks skyrocketing gambling revenue while NSW law puts harm minimisation first Independent legal advice obtained by Wesley Mission says harm minimisation and fostering responsible conduct are the primary objectives of the Gaming Machines Act 2001.
Independent legal advice obtained by Wesley Mission says the Gaming Machines Act 2001 puts harm minimisation and fostering responsible conduct first. The NSW Budget forecasts gaming tax revenue increasing to around $4.1 billion over the forward estimates after an upward revision of more than $600 million. Wesley Mission says the Government cannot claim harm minimisation is its priority while Treasury, in the absence of any commitments to meaningful reform, projects gambling losses growing greater than the rate of inflation.
The legal advice confirms the primary and fundamental objectives of the Gaming Machines Act 2001 are harm minimisation and fostering responsible conduct and that this principle must guide how the Act is applied.
The advice has been provided to the Minister for Gaming and Racing, David Harris and concludes that the Ministerial Direction issued in July 2025 appears to be inconsistent with Parliament's clear intention that harm minimisation and fostering responsible conduct are the primary objectives of the Act.
Wesley Mission CEO, Rev Stu Cameron, says if harm minimisation and fostering responsible conduct are the law's primary objectives, government decisions must take this into account as mandatory considerations.
"The gap between what the law requires and what the Government is failing to deliver is becoming hard to ignore. The law is clear. Harm minimisation is not one objective among many. It is the primary objective of the Act.
"You cannot claim harm minimisation is the priority while budgeting for skyrocketing gaming tax revenue, mostly from poker machines. Those realities cannot be reconciled."
Recent quarterly figures show NSW clubs and hotels generated almost $2.37 billion in gaming machine profits in a single quarter (January – March 2026), increasing by 9.4% per cent year-on-year, more than double the rate of inflation.
Rev Cameron says every increase in gaming tax revenue represents more gambling losses and more harm experienced by NSW families.
"Governments do not collect gaming tax in isolation. Every extra dollar of gaming tax revenue comes from someone losing, often catastrophically and more often than not by people and families who can least afford it. If harm minimisation comes first in law, it must come first in government policy and decision making."
Wesley Mission continues to call for the immediate implementation of practical reforms, including the shutdown of poker machines between midnight and 10.00 am.
Sharing her lived experience of gambling harm, Tricia says reducing poker machine operating hours provides a critical circuit breaker for people at greatest risk.
"At 80 years old, I can tell you gambling took far more than money from me. I lost a lot of money and years of my life. People say, 'Just stop', but these machines are designed to keep people gambling and that is why so many people get trapped.
"Turning poker machines off overnight will not solve everything, but it will save some people from making life-changing decisions in the early hours of the morning. If it had been in place years ago, it could have made a real difference to me."
Rev Cameron says the Budget exposes a fundamental contradiction.
"The Government now has independent legal advice confirming the Act puts harm minimisation first. The question is whether it intends to act on it. A real commitment to sensible reform and reducing harm would start with shutting down poker machines overnight."
"You cannot have a law that says minimise harm and a Budget that depends on higher gambling losses. The two simply do not belong together.
"The continued silences are loud."
