Victorian gambling laws are about to change
The Victorian Parliament has passed the Gambling and Liquor Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Amending Act), which will soon change various laws we administer.
The Amending Act was passed on 23 June 2022 and a number of key changes will impact the gambling industry, including venue operators and community or charitable organisations, as well as major licensees, such as the wagering and betting licensee.
These changes have not yet come into effect. We will communicate with relevant industry stakeholders once we have further information on when they will commence.
The key gambling amendments introduced include those that will:
- change the circumstances when a permit is required to conduct a raffle, so that a permit is only required if the total value of the raffle prize is above $20,000 (instead of $5,000)
- clarify that bingo, fundraising events and lucky envelopes cannot be conducted online
- change requirements relating to paying unpaid jackpot funds by venue operators for a linked jackpot arrangement
- clarify that when venues are paying electronic gaming machine (EGM) winnings of or above $2,000 to a player via electronic funds transfer (EFT), the funds cannot be available to the player until after 24 hours from the time the player makes the request for the funds to be transferred via EFT
- enable the casino operator to pay out EGM winnings via EFT (instead of solely via cheques and cash) but only in the same circumstances as venue operators
- remove the ability for a person to apply for an interactive gaming licence
- ensure that agents of the wagering and betting licensee are specifically subject to the offence provision in section 10.7.3(1) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 in relation to allowing minors to gamble
- extend the timeframe when unclaimed prizes must be transferred to the Treasurer by the wagering and betting, keno and public lottery licensees from six months to 12 months. This means a person will have 12 months (rather than six) to make a claim for winnings from these licensees. After 12 months, the person will need apply to the State Revenue Office.
You can read more about the above changes to gambling laws here.
Along with the changes to gambling laws, the Gambling and Liquor Legislation Amendment Act 2021 also amends the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998. These changes affect provisions previously passed by the Liquor Control Reform Amendment Act 2021. You can read more about the liquor changes on our website.
