Two Sydney hotels have been fined a combined total of AU$154,000 (US$100,200) for gambling related offences, including operating gaming machines during mandatory shutdown hours.
The NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) revealed it had fined the Concourse Hotel at Wynyard AU$110,000 (US$71,600) for repeatedly allowing patrons to play its 29 gaming machines between 8am and 10am from March to November 2023. The hotel has 24-hour trading but is required to comply with the general 4am to 10am gaming machine shutdown period each day of the week. At 8.40am on 28 November 2023, Liquor & Gaming NSW inspectors attended the venue and observed all 29 gaming machines switched on and ready for play, the regulator said.
“The frequent and repeated operation of gaming machines during the six-hour shutdown period over eight months is an extremely serious breach of laws aimed at reducing gambling harm,” explained Liquor & Gaming NSW Executive Director of Regulatory Operations, Dimitri Argeres.
“Providing patrons with access to gaming machines during the shutdown period increases the risk of gambling harm by enabling gambling for longer hours of uninterrupted play.”
In the second case, the Olympic Hotel at Paddington was fined AU$44,000 (US$28,600) after Liquor & Gaming NSW officers found three gaming machines were not connected to the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), which monitors all gaming machine operations in NSW and calculates relevant taxes.
The inspectors also found an ATM on the premises had the ability to dispense cash from credit card accounts. Under the Gaming Machines Act 2001, hotels or clubs with gaming machines are not allowed to have ATMs with credit access in any part of the premises. The investigation revealed that since 2021, the hotel had permitted more than AU$16,000 (US$10,400) to be withdrawn from the ATM from credit card accounts.
“Credit card restrictions are an important measure to stop people from gambling with money they don’t have,” Argeres said.
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