Self Exclusion In Theory

Recent amendments to the Responsible Gaming Legislation have strengthened the availability of self-exclusion programs in gambling venues and by 2 October this year all gambling venues will have had to have entered into recognised arrangements for self-exclusion programs. For the consumer, this means that anyone wanting to exclude themselves from a particular or a number of gambling venues, can approach the venue about making such arrangements knowing that the venue is under a statutory obligation to respond.

Currently there are two distinct processes in place, depending on whether it is a club or hotel which you are trying to exclude from. These are outlined as follows:

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For Hotels/Pubs

The Australian Hotels Association currently runs a program called GAME CHANGE contactable on 1300 137 404. This program , established by the AHA with the support of their professional counsellor Rowan Cameron, offers both member and non-member hotels/pubs access to this service for their patrons.

Any person wising to self-exclude may contact the hotline number and be assured of confidentiality in dealing with their affairs. What this means is that you will be asked to provide your details for a pack of information to be sent to you, with details about how the scheme operates or alternatively through you gambling counsellor a direct referral can be made to the service. You will then be contacted by the AHA Counsellor to make arrangements for you to attend a solicitors appointment to go through the deed of exclusion. You will be given the name of a solicitor in your locality who will have been contracted by the AHA to deliver this service free of charge and asked which hotels/areas you wish to self-exclude from.

You need to bring a passport size photo of yourself to this meeting or arrangements can be made to have photos taken at the AHA expense if this is difficult. At the meeting the solicitor will go through the deed so you fully understand the details and ask you to sign the deed. The deed will name all hotels/pubs in a certain locality nominated by yourself, from which you are choosing to ban from the gaming areas of those venues and state the length of time you wish to exclude for. There is no provision for total exclusion from the venue. Your details are then forwarded to the relevant hotels along with your photograph.

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For Clubs

Clubs NSW through the Clubsafe program runs a program of self-exclusion to support its member clubs. What this means in practice is that those clubs who pay a membership to belong to Clubsafe receive professional support & training to implement a program in their venue. Clubs NSW provides relevant documentation but it is up to the individual clubs to make it available to their patrons.

Non-member clubs are currently left to develop their own programs, but from 2 October they too need to have entered into an agreement with a suitable provider to develop a scheme.

In practice, this means that someone wanting to exclude from one or a number of clubs, needs to approach each club individually to make arrangements and depending on their status they may use Clubsafe deeds of exclusion or alternative documentation. Each club is still under an obligation to respond but the nature of the documentation may vary between clubs. The deed will reflect the nature of the exclusion (as patrons can choose to exclude either from just the gaming area of the club or from the total venue) the length of time and other relevant conditions.

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Consumer Feedback

One of our GIS (NSW) members comments on his experience of the self-exclusion process for clubs are as follows:

“Generally all the Clubs provided prompt service and no pre-booked appointments were required. It took about 4 hours to visit these clubs and conduct the process. It should be noted that I live in a rural area and had a vehicle to do this, without private transport it would have been extremely difficult. Also, in all the documents a witness was required sign as well and it was fortuitous that I had one. It may have been possible from someone else in the clubs to do this and/or the manager. All the clubs visited had knowledge of the process and, with the exception of one club, had done some previously.

Personally it is a very satisfying experience and some ways a great load off one’s shoulders.

If there are improvements to be made is that it would more useful of there was a one stop shop process similar to that offered by the Hotels. I was fortunate to have the means to get around and the time, otherwise this could have been a long process if squeezed into after work & weekends etc.”

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