Return to normal view

Cash Access and Gaming Machine Design

Cash access

To protect problem gamblers, access to large amounts of money at gaming venues has been limited. The measures include:

• requiring all winnings and accumulated credits of $1000 or more on a non-casino gaming machine to be paid entirely by cheque, with an option for players to request cheque payment for smaller amounts
• prohibiting gaming venue operators from cashing more than one cheque of a value of over $400 in a 24 hour period
• setting a maximum per customer per day withdrawal limit of $400 for all automatic teller machines (ATMs) in gaming venues or within 50 metres of an entrance to the Melbourne casino gaming floor
• effective from July 2012, removing all ATMs from gaming venues.

Gaming machine design

There are a number of restrictions on gaming machines in gaming venues that are aimed at reducing harm caused by excessive gambling.

The measures include:

• a ban on $100 note acceptors, meaning gaming machines are not allowed to accept notes greater than $50
• a ban on autoplay facilities; the machines must require the player to fully release a button before pressing it again to effect the next spin
• a maximum bet limit of $5.

Spin rates

The spin rates of all non-casino games have been restricted so that they are not allowed to operate faster than one spin per 2.14 seconds.