Cashless gaming trial set up to fail, former participant says

The chances of the Minns government introducing a cashless gaming card are fading, with participants in a trial saying it was set up to fail and there are claims the government has been quietly briefing ClubsNSW about dropping the change.

A report from the year-long trial into a pokies card is due to be handed down by November 30 – but the process has been criticised by those involved, with one panel member saying it has been dogged by poor data, and a club chief executive questioning whether the trial was a “political stunt”.

These revelations come as a ClubsNSW source claimed a senior adviser in the office of NSW Premier Chris Minns warned the lobby group it would be given a wide berth in the coming months as the government considers shelving the rollout of gaming cards across the state’s 87,544 poker machines in clubs and hotels.

West HQ chief executive Richard Errington said he had entered his venue into the trial in good faith but pulled out due to concerns around data security and delays in the approvals process. Two months after the trial began, the panel had yet to approve technology for installation.

West HQ chief executive Richard Errington. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“We asked, and the manufacturer asked, for an extension of the trial so there could be meaningful data, and that was not forthcoming,” Errington said.

Club officials began to suspect the trial was a sham process to back a predetermined outcome.

“It became apparent to us that we were going to be used as the sacrificial lamb. It really became, ‘Is this a political stunt?’ ”

Aristocrat also pulled out of the trial. A spokeswoman said the company supported the goals of the trial, but it had withdrawn to focus on developing its own cashless technology.

“Aristocrat will be ready to bring cashless technology options to our valued customers in this market as the product approval process and requirements become clearer,” she said.

With ClubsNSW leading opponents of obligatory gaming cards for venues, an adviser revealed the premier’s office said it would not meet with them, helping to avoid a perception the group had been influential if Minns walked away from the policy.

However, a spokesman for Minns said: “We completely reject the proposition that a peak body was told they couldn’t meet with the premier or government. We note that ClubsNSW is a member of the independent panel on cashless gaming.”

ClubsNSW told the Herald it could not respond as it does not provide comment on private meetings with politicians or their representatives.

“Since the formation of the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform, ClubsNSW has not had any meetings with the Premier’s Office in relation to cashless gaming, gaming reform, the trial or the Panel,” a spokesperson said.

Minns convened an independent panel of 16 people in August last year to oversee the trial of cashless poker machines, which includes ClubsNSW chief executive Rebecca Riant. While the $3.4 million trial was oversubscribed, it has been plagued by problems, with a budget estimates hearing in September revealing more than half of the 27 original venues had withdrawn. Of 243 people who signed up, only 32 active users remained.

Gaming Minister David Harris told budget estimates the trial was still producing “really useful information” despite the lack of users, and there were valuable insights from those who had signed up and those who had not.

“The NSW government awaits the independent panel’s report and will thoroughly consider the panel’s findings,” the spokesman said.

“This is complex reform, and the very reason why we are doing a trial.”

Sydney’s two casinos were due to transition to mandatory cashless play this year, but the Minns government offered a 12-month extension “in recognition of the practical difficulties” encountered with the technology. The state government had imposed the requirement after inquiries found widespread money laundering at casinos. The venues now have until October 2025 to switch to cashless play.

After sustained pressure over the impact of poker machines during the election campaign, Minns said he would hold a trial into cashless gaming as an alternative to the Coalition’s vow to roll out the technology within five years.

With panel members required to sign non-disclosure agreements, information about the trial has been sparse. But a panel source, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the trial had not been the “proof point” some had expected. The pending research report based on its findings would not provide the government with much substance, given a lack of user data. The source said the trial had been “set up to fail”.

The panel has drafted a list of recommendations, but they are not supported by all its members and negotiations are continuing.

A small, Coalition government-endorsed trial of cashless gaming at Wests Newcastle was aborted in its final stages last year when it was hacked shortly after the government announced plans for its own large-scale trial.

Another cyberattack on a third-party IT provider in May compromised the personal details of customers at 17 clubs and pubs. NSW Police charged a 46-year-old man with an extortion offence.

Punters in NSW lost $8.1 billion on pokies in 2023, the equivalent of $1000 for every adult and child in the state. The figure is vastly more than through racing, sports and other betting events, accounting for more than 65 per cent of the state’s annual gambling losses, on average.

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