The Victorian government’s push to mandate carded play for gaming venues has drawn sharp criticism from Yarraville Club CEO Chris Byrne, who has described the move as “draconian” and warned of dire consequences for clubs and their communities.
Speaking with Club Management, Byrne said: “As an industry, all clubs, all pubs, and all industry associations are supportive of harm minimisation. We acknowledge there is a small element of our customer base who do have problem, but we shouldn’t be penalising 99 per cent of society because there’s one per cent where we should be doing things to assist them.”
Byrne expressed concerns about the lack of research underpinning the decision, pointing to a recent industry report that revealed up to 50 per cent of Victorian clubs could face closure under the new regulations. He warned of the dire ramifications this could have to an industry that employs over 11,000 people and contributes $1.4 billion to the state’s economy.
“If a club goes broke, who misses out? It’s the local community and that’s compounded even more when you go to regional areas and small towns where the club is the lifeblood of the community,” he said.
Another pressing issue is the readiness of the technology required for mandatory carded play. Byrne highlighted how Victorian gaming minister Melissa Horne personally admitted that the current systems are not equipped to handle such a program.
“That was her words to me,” he said.
“My real concern is we’re trying to rush in a mandatory carded play model on the back of a system that’s not capable of managing it. With a new monitoring system appointed, these things could change. But my real concern is who is going to pay for this? Ultimately, one way or another, the industry will.
“When you consider scientific data based on other jurisdictions, it doesn’t work. It’s not working at Crown – problematic gamblers are still playing. What it’s doing is it’s stopping the leisure gambler who might go to the casino to spend $20 or $50 as part of their recreational process … yet, the problem gambler will still sign up or, worst case scenario, the problem gambler moves to online gambling where we can’t tax, we can’t control, yet the problems with harm minimisation will still fall on the doorsteps of the local health system.”
Byrne proposed an alternative solution: facial recognition technology (FRT), which has been in trial at Yarraville Club for the last four months. The system alerts staff when patrons exceed certain time limits in gaming areas, prompting welfare checks.
“That’s what they’re using in South Australia and it’s actually working,” he said.
“My real concern with carded play, and I’ve seen this firsthand at Crown, it appears to me the staff say that the customer has a card and are protected. I believe there’s less policing of responsible services of gambling or welfare checks on the floor at Crown.”
Reflecting on the broader impact, Byrne underscored the social role clubs play, particularly for vulnerable groups.
“We’ve done surveys with our members and ask why they come. They come down here to connect with people. They also come here because they can’t necessarily afford the cost of electricity and gas and cooling. They also come in because they say, ‘We’re scared to die alone’. But they’re things that the government doesn’t consider,” he said.
“If we lose a large proportion of these clubs, what’s the flow on effect? What will be the societal and mental health implications on local communities, the elderly, the disadvantage, the disproportionate size, but more importantly, to regional communities?”
Byrne praised the Tasmanian government’s decision to defer the introduction of carded play to better understand its implications, suggesting Victoria should adopt a similar approach.
“I think the smart thing for Victoria to do would have been to take a similar approach. I’m not saying that the outcome wouldn’t be the same, but my understanding is that Victorian government have done very, very little research on FRT technology, and in particular, the technology that has been in place for close to 10 years in South Australia.”