JOY Burch says hundreds of community groups, schools and charitable organisations will be able to run raffles, housie, bingo and other low-risk lotteries without having to apply for permission under new laws which passed the Legislative Assembly yesterday.
“The Lotteries (Approvals) Amendment Bill 2015 would cut red tape and costs by exempting low-risk lotteries from requiring approval from the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission,” Joy said.
“Research from the Australian National University suggests gambling activities like raffles, housie, bingo and trade promotions are lower risk, as they tend to be infrequent or one-off, with small prize value.
“The reforms provide for more flexible risk-based regulation and give the Commission the ability to determine exemption thresholds for different lottery products.
“Low-risk lotteries undertaken by businesses and organisations can now be exempt from applying for approvals and paying application fees for events such as housie or raffles.
“While it is important to lower the cost for not-for-profit organisations and business, the requirements to conduct a fair lottery are unchanged. The Commission’s ability to respond to complaints also remains unaltered.”
The Commission currently receives more than 5,000 lottery approval applications every year. About one-third of these are expected to be exempt under the new laws.
The measures are expected to come into effect in November.
Further information about lottery regulation can be found at gamblingandracing.act.gov.au.
[Photo: “A typical bingo dabber for playing bingo in the UK” by Mr. Bingo UK – http://81.171.204.81/content_images/howtoplay_dabber.jpg. Licensed under CC BY-SA 1.0 via Commons.]
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