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National Gambling Reforms
(Administration of ATM measure) Directions 2014
FRLI:
F2014L00107
Portfolio:
Social Services
Tabled: House of
Representatives and Senate, 11 February 2014 Summary of committee concerns
2.1
The committee seeks further information on how this instrument relates
to proposed amendments to the National Gambling Reform Act 2012 (the
Act) currently before the Parliament and what impacts the instrument will have
on the right to health and the right to an adequate standard of living. Overview
2.2
This instrument is made under the Act[1]
for the purposes of providing regulatory guidance and general requirements in
relation to the approach to be taken by the National Gambling Regulator in the
first six months of administering the ATM measure under the Act.
2.3
According to the explanatory statement, '[t]he ATM measure is the first
that applies under the Act from 1 February 2014, and requires ATM providers and
venues to introduce a $250 limit to cash withdrawals from ATMs at gaming
venues, in any 24 hour period'.[2]
2.4
The instrument implements an educative and cooperative approach by:
-
specifying priorities based on the Regulator's functions with
respect to the ATM measure relevant to an educative approach;
-
prescribing procedural requirements to ensure genuine
applications for exemption are settled before responding to potential
non-compliance; and
-
establishing a mandatory process for 'cooperative engagement'
which must be followed before responding to any potential non-compliance.
Compatibility with human rights
Statement of compatibility
2.5
The statement of compatibility accompanying the instrument states that
the instrument engages the right to privacy (in that the Act involves the
collection, storage, security, use and disclosure of personal information) and
the right to be presumed innocent (in that the Act provides for a number of
civil penalty and criminal offences, which, in a number of cases, include
reverse burdens of proof). The statement of compatibility concludes that the
instrument 'is compatible with human rights because to the limited extent it
may impact on human rights, those impacts are reasonable, necessary and
proportionate'.[3]
Committee view on compatibility
2.6
According to the explanatory statement, the purpose of the Act is 'to
provide measures to reduce the harm caused by gaming machines to problem
gamblers, and their families and communities'.[4]
2.7
The committee notes that relevant to this instrument are proposed
amendments to the Act currently before the Parliament. The Social Services and
Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 proposes to amend the Act to repeal the
powers and functions of the National Gambling Regulator and a number of other measures
under the Act, including the ATM withdrawal limit measure.[5]
2.8
The committee has previously commented on the amendments proposed by
this bill.[6]
The committee noted that the risks and harms which result from problem gambling
which the Act was intended to address 'relate directly to the promotion of
human rights, including in particular the right to an adequate standard of living,
and the right to health'.[7]
The committee sought further information as to whether the effect of the
measures is to remove measures that promote human rights and whether they would
be replaced with measures which address the problems targeted by the Act.
2.9
The Minister's response stated that the measures in the bill constitute
the first step of a new and different policy approach to problem gambling,
through expressing the Government's commitment to developing and implementing
appropriate measures in the near future. The committee recommended that the
government's actions be accompanied by appropriate mechanisms to monitor the
effectiveness of the replacement measures in promoting human rights, in
particular the rights to health and to an adequate standard of living.
2.10
It appears to the committee that the purpose of this instrument is to
delay implementation of the enforcement provisions with respect to the ATM
measure under the Act. It prioritises an approach of 'cooperative engagement'
over compliance activities. As the committee as previously noted, the purpose
of the measures in the Act, including the ATM measure and its associated
enforcement provisions, is to address the harms caused by gaming machines to
individuals, their families, and communities.
2.11
The committee intends to write to the Minister for Social
Services to seek further information as to:
- how this instrument relates to the amendments to the Act
currently before the Parliament in the Social Services and Other Legislation
Amendment Bill 2013; and
- what impact the 'cooperative engagement' approach implemented
by this instrument will have on the right to health and the right to an
adequate standard of living.
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