Australian hotels group ALH (Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group) has been fined AU$177,500 (US$119,400) by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) for allowing a minor to gamble and a minor to be within a poker machine area, and for failing to ensure electronic betting terminals were reasonably supervised at all times.
The charges include those for allowing a teenager to gamble on multiple occasions at five venues between September 2022 and October 2023, and for allowing an eight-year-old child, who was in the company of an adult, to enter the poker machine area at another ALH venue, the Westside Taverner, in August 2023. Staff at the venue spoke to the adult accompanying the child to ask them to leave and then reported the incident to the VGCCC, it said.
“It is well established that minors who gamble are more likely to experience severe harm from gambling as adults,” said VGCCC CEO Annette Kimmitt. “All venues therefore have a legal and social obligation to protect children from that risk.
“We have zero tolerance for operators that flout the law, especially when children are involved.
“While I commend the staff at Westside Taverner for intervening when they became aware there was a minor in the poker machine area, it is never acceptable for a child to gain access to a venue’s gambling area.”
ALH was fined $175,000 for the teenager, $2,500 for the child, and ordered to pay the VGCCC $45,000 in costs, the VGCCC said.
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