- Published:
- Wednesday 13 December 2023
In an Australian-first, everyone who uses a gaming machine at Crown Casino will be required to set time and loss limits using the state-wide YourPlay system.
Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne welcomed the start of mandatory pre-commitment at the casino, which gives casino patrons more control over their gambling, helping to reduce gambling harm.
From today, anyone using gaming machines at the casino will be required to use YourPlay to set both time and money loss limits.
If someone reaches their set limit, they cannot use a gaming machine at the casino for either a 24-hour or seven-day period, depending on what they’ve chosen.
This builds on earlier changes that requires Crown Casino to enforce 15-minute breaks for patrons gambling continuously for three hours. People must take a day’s break if they’ve been gambling for 12 hours in any 24-hour period at the casino and they can only gamble for a total of 36 hours in a week.
Crown Casino will also be required to check the identity of patrons when they sign up for a card which will help prevent money laundering.
These cards will be linked to a YourPlay account, which provides users with real time updates at the gaming machine as well as detailed activity statements, providing them with vital information about their gambling and making it easier to seek help if they need it.
This will complement the resources already available across Victoria and at the casino to support safer gambling and access to counselling services.
To further prevent money laundering, cash winnings will also be capped with people only able to collect a maximum of $1,000. Any winnings greater than this will only be payable by an electronic transfer or a cheque and will require identification to be provided.
Mandatory carded play will be implemented across all table games at the casino by December 2025.
These changes are part of the government’s landmark gambling reforms to address harm on electronic gaming machines in all Victorian venues and deliver on key recommendations from the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence — all 33 of which have now either been delivered or legislated.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne
“We are delivering nation-leading reforms to protect the most vulnerable from gambling harm and putting the power back into the hands of patrons.”
“Those who think they can get away with criminal activity like money laundering are wrong – these changes are about tracking, stopping and prosecuting this illegal activity.”