Gaming industry employees

Requirement to have a Gaming industry employee licence

1. You must hold a Gaming industry employee (GIE) licence if you're employed by, or working for:

• a venue operator
• the monitoring licensee
• a gaming machine services provider

and you perform any of the following duties:

2. You must hold a GIE licence to perform any of these duties:

3. If you're working as a sole employee for a bingo centre operator, you must hold a GIE licence to perform any of the following duties:

At a bingo centre, a volunteer acting in good faith for only one community or charitable organisation, and within any period of 7 days, is not required to hold a licence, even if they're performing the duties shown above. Employees who don't perform any of the above duties, do not need a GIE licence.

The nominee of a venue or bingo centre operator can perform GIE duties at the venue where they are the nominee, without being required to hold a licence.

In this case, the person must get the 'nominee identification' (ID) badge from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC). This ID must be worn at all times while the nominee is performing GIE duties, so it is seen by other people.

Mutual recognition, and Automatic mutual recognition, for those with a Gaming industry employee licence equivalent

An employee from one Australian state or territory is considered registered in Victoria, when their licence is deemed the equivalent of a GIE licence. This comes under the Mutual Recognition Act 1992(opens in a new window).

Changes to the Mutual Recognition Act in July 2021, mean you can work in Victoria as a GIE under your home state’s licence. This is if your home state is a participating authority under the Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) scheme.

The following licences will be recognised under the AMR scheme if you notify us of your intention to work in Victoria by completing a Mutual Recognition Act form. For a copy of this form please email [email protected].

You'll be recognised as a GIE in Victoria if you have a current equivalent licence listed below:

• New South Wales:
  Gaming machine technician licence, or Approved technician certificate
  
• South Australia:
  Approved gaming machine technician
  
• Northern Territory:
  Gaming machine repairer licence, or Gaming machine manager licence
  
• Tasmania:
  Technician licence (restricted to non-casino, only maintaining gaming machines), or Special employee licence (restricted to non-casino, only managing gaming operations, and attending gaming machines).

The following licences will be recognised in Victoria if you complete the mutual recognition registration form. For a copy of this form please email [email protected].

You'll be recognised as a GIE in Victoria if you have a current equivalent licence listed below:

• Queensland:
  Gaming nominee licence, or Repairer licence
  
• Western Australia:
  Gaming machine and gaming equipment licence (endorsed to maintain and repair lottery video terminals).
  

Gaming industry employee licence conditions

1. If you have been issued a GIE licence in Victoria, you need to know your obligations and responsibilities. You must provide written notice to us within 14 days of:

• any change in your name or address
  
• any finding of guilt for any offence under statute or common law, recorded in any jurisdiction* against you (excluding non-custodial traffic matters**)
• details of any proceedings leading to your participation in a diversion program
  
• the start of any bankruptcy proceedings
  • entry into a formal or informal arrangement scheme with your creditors, or
    
  • formal administration under the Bankruptcy Act 1966(opens in a new window)
    
• details of a litigation outcome that resulted in an order or finding being made against you, whether personally and/or via business associations (e.g. legal action that involved a company of which you are a director, partner etc.)
  
• the result of any disciplinary action taken outside Victoria against a gaming, bingo or casino licence held by you
  
• the result of any disciplinary action taken against any non-gaming licence, approval, authorisation, or registration, held by you under any jurisdiction (excluding matters of your driver licence or motor vehicle registration).
  

Definitions:

(*) Any jurisdiction means any relevant legal or other authority, or territory, within or outside Australia.

(**) Non-custodial traffic offences are traffic matters which resulted in a penalty other than a jail sentence or community-based order.

2. You must not participate in gaming, or playing bingo, other than as required while on duty. This includes intervals for:

• meals and rostered breaks arising in the course of duty
• when the gaming venue or bingo centre is closed to the public.

3. You must comply with the requirements of any notice under section 9A.1.17 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 to:

• provide any information (specified in the notice) that's relevant to you holding your GIE licence
• produce any records (specified in the notice) that are relevant to the licence being held
• allow those records and any copies made to be examined.

4. A record must be made every time you:

• access the logic area of the gaming or monitoring equipment
• supervise a person accessing a logic area of this equipment.

This must be recorded in the logbook kept in either the gaming or monitoring equipment cabinet or secured in the immediate vicinity of it. The record must include the:

• name and licence number of the person accessing the logic area
• date and time of accessing the logic area
• hard meter readings at the time of work
• the reason for accessing the logic area and what work was done
• the name of the person being supervised (if applicable).

5. You must adhere to any other licence conditions imposed by the VGCCC and communicated to you.

*Note: failure to comply with any condition of a GIE licence may result in us taking disciplinary action against the licensee.

Notifying the VGCCC

If you wish to notify the VGCCC about your licence conditions, please send an email to: [email protected]

You may update your change of address by accessing the portal.

Online Services Portal

The Online Services Portal allows you to update your contact information online. You are encouraged to make use of the portal, as the VGCCC is moving increasingly to email communication as its most efficient method of contact.

It is important the VGCCC has current contact details, including your email, to allow important notifications.

To access the portal:

1. Visit the online gambling services portal. To use this service, you must have a Login ID and a valid password
2. Click on the ‘Forgot my password’ link to be issued with a password
3. Enter your email, which must be the email address you gave to the VGCCC
4. Enter your Login ID, which is your VGCCC ID Number/GIE
   • e.g. if your VGCCC ID Number is G12345678, then
   • your Login ID is G12345678/GIE
5. Enter the two words in the picture box
6. Click the ‘Reset Password’ button
7. Your new password will be sent to your email address.

Should you have any queries, or if you did not provide an email address to the VGCCC as part of your application, please contact the VGCCC at:

• email: [email protected]
• phone: 1300 599 759.

Disciplinary action

The VGCCC may take disciplinary action against you as a licenced GIE for any of the following reasons:

a) you should not have been granted a licence as there were reasons for refusing it, which the VGCCC did not know at the time

b) you have been convicted or found guilty of a relevant offence*

c) you have breached a condition of your licence

d) you have failed to provide information to the VGCCC that you are required to provide as a licence holder

e) you have provided false or misleading information to the VGCCC

f) you have become insolvent or bankrupt

g) for any reason, the VGCCC considers you no longer suitable to hold your licence*.

Relevant offence means:

• an offence against a gaming Act or gaming regulations
• an offence arising out of, or in connection with, your employment under a gaming Act
• an offence (whenever occurring) involving fraud or dishonesty punishable by imprisonment for 3 months or more (whether or not in addition to a fine).

Result of disciplinary action being taken

If the VGCCC decides that disciplinary action should be taken against you, it can take one or more of the following actions:

a) issue a letter of censure

b) vary your licence

c) suspend your licence for a specified period

d) cancel your licence

e) cancel your licence and disqualify you from getting/applying for a gaming licence or permit for a period not more than 4 years.

If your licence is suspended or cancelled, you must return the licence to the VGCCC within 14 days.

If the VGCCC takes disciplinary action against you, its decision (including your full name and licence number) will be published on the VGCCC website and in the VGCCC Annual Report.

Training requirements

You must complete Responsible Service of Gaming (RSG) training if you're employed in a Victorian gambling venue and you:

• work in the gambling machine area (GMA) of the venue
• have more than incidental contact or interaction with users of machines in the GMA.

You must also complete the RSG training if you're a:

• venue operator
• nominee of a venue operator
• holder of a Gambling industry employee licence.

You must complete 2 modules to obtain a RSG certificate:

• Module 1 can be done online and must be completed within one month of starting work in a gaming venue
• Module 2 is a face-to-face component that you must complete within 6 months of starting work in a gaming venue.

You don’t need to complete training before you start work, but you can do the online component (Module 1) if you want to. You don’t have to complete RSG training to get a job in a gaming venue.

This training is free of charge and is administered through the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing(opens in a new window).

You must complete Module 3 within 3 years of completing Module 2.

Module 4 training must be completed within 3 months of completing Module 3.

You must complete refresher training every 3 years thereafter.

For more information, visit the RSG training website.

The GIE Handbook

You can access the GIE Handbook to complete information regarding your licence. For a copy of this handbook, please email [email protected].

Replacing a lost or destroyed licence

If your licence is:

• lost
• destroyed
• stolen

you can apply for a replacement to be issued by the VGCCC.

To have a replacement licence issued, you must provide a statutory declaration detailing the circumstances in which the licence was lost or destroyed, and pay a fee of $10.72 by credit card.

You will be contacted by us after we receive your statutory declaration to get the details of your card and process the transaction.

Email the statutory declaration to: [email protected].

Surrendering your Gaming industry employee licence

To surrender your GIE licence, you will need to notify us in writing explaining your wish to surrender. Within 14 days you must:

• return your identity card
• send your notification of surrendering.

If you stop working in the gaming industry, you have the option of surrendering or keeping your licence.

If you were fingerprinted when applying for your GIE licence (before 4 December 2014, when fingerprinting requirements were removed), we will destroy your fingerprints, when:

• you surrender your licence because you no longer intend to work in the gaming industry
• your licence is cancelled by us
• your licence expires and is not renewed (10 years from date of issue).

If you keep your licence, your fingerprints will not be destroyed while the licence is still valid.

Expired Gaming industry employee licence

If you have not lodged an application to renew your licence before its expiry date, you won't be able to:

• renew it
• perform the duties of a GIE
• work within the gambling machine area of a venue.

If you still need a licence, you must complete a new licence application. For a copy of this form please email [email protected].

Online licence verification

Venue operators may verify if a GIE licence is current by accessing the venue operator portal(opens in a new window).