Plans for mandatory carded play in Victoria, Australia, gaming venues have advanced.
The Gambling Legislation Amendment (Pre-commitment and Carded Play) Bill 2024 passed through the Legislative Assembly with 53 votes in favour and 25 against.
The bill would mean a player card must be inserted into an electronic gaming machine for it to operate.
Casino, gaming and liquor regulation minister, Melissa Horne, hopes the move will allow players to “make better informed choices about their spending.”
Authorities in Victoria have planned a three-month trail of carded play across around 40 venues ahead of a potential state-wide roll-out.
Gippsland South MP Danny O’Brien said he would like more opportunities to see how the carded play works in practice before making it law.
“The government is basically giving itself a head of power to introduce these reforms rather than giving the parliament the opportunity to understand exactly what it is going to do and in what timeframe it is going to do it,’ he said.
“I acknowledge the timeframe is listed in the second-reading speech, but we are already somewhat behind that timeframe given that the bill was introduced in November.”
The carded play bill requires electronic gaming machines to have new spin rate limits, down from three seconds per spin to 2.3 seconds, to reduce spins and player loss on machines at casinos, hotels and clubs.
Narre Warren South MP Gary Maas said: “From 1 December 2025, mandatory carded play will commence using the state government’s existing YourPlay framework, and the amount of money people can load onto a machine at any time will be reduced to AU$100, which is down from $1000, helping reduce the amount that can be lost.
“The pre-commitment card allows players to set voluntary limits that help prevent financial harm before it occurs and help people game responsibly.”
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