The Government has today announced draft laws that would give the community a say on applications for new gaming machine venues.
Under the current laws, the Liquor and Gaming Commission has no capacity to consider the community interest when considering applications for new gaming machine venues.
We believe that isn’t good enough and the community should be able to have its say before any new gaming machine venue is granted a licence.
The community interest test will be developed with advice from the Licensing and Gaming Commission and informed by a public consultation process, giving all interested parties a say on how the test will be framed. Likely factors include:
The draft laws include a suspension on all requests for a licence for new gaming machine venues. The suspension will be lifted once the community interest test is in place. This suspension will cover a recent application to install gaming machines at a venue in Glenorchy.
These draft laws are part of the Government’s commitment to look closely at the future of gambling in Tasmania in the lead up to the conclusion of the current gaming deed in 2023.