Hansard debates

          GAMBLING AND LIQUOR LEGISLATION FURTHER AMENDMENT BILL 2014
                                 Second reading

  Mr O'BRIEN (Treasurer) -- I move:
  That this bill be now read a second time.
Speech as  follows  incorporated into Hansard  in accordance with  resolution of
house:

  Since coming to government in 2010, the coalition government has been  working
  to  implement  our  comprehensive  plan  to  restore  integrity,  probity  and
  responsibility to  the  forefront of  gambling  regulation in Victoria  and to
  implement our commitments made in the  Victorian Liberal-Nationals coalition's
  plan for gaming and liquor licensing.
  The coalition government has successfully established a combined regulator for
  liquor  and  gambling,  the  Victorian  Commission  for  Gambling  and  Liquor
  Regulation, reducing unnecessary duplication and  red  tape  for  industry. We
  have established the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, funded with  a
  record $150 million  over  four years, placing  Victoria at the  forefront  of
  reducing gambling-related harm. We have also worked with industry stakeholders
  to  transition to the new gambling industry structure  while reducing red tape
  and simplifying the operation of the legislation.

  This bill continues to build on this important  work  by amending the Gambling
  Regulation Act  2003,  the Liquor Control  Reform  Act 1998 and  the Victorian
  Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation Act 2011.
  The  bill contains  a  number of important  measures which will  significantly
  reduce unnecessary  burden on  Victorian  businesses without  undermining  the
  objectives of the gambling legislation.
  Notably, the bill removes the requirement for Victorian businesses to obtain a
  permit from the VCGLR  to conduct a  trade promotion lottery. Trade  promotion
  lotteries  are  designed  to  promote  businesses.  Each  year,  thousands  of
  applications to conduct trade promotion lotteries are received and permits are
  issued by the VCGLR to businesses. Trade promotion lotteries can currently  be
  conducted without a permit if the total prize pool is below $5000.

  The  bill will remove the  requirement  to  obtain  a  permit  for  all  trade
  promotion lotteries,  resulting in a  significant  saving for  both  small and
  large businesses.
  It  is important  to  note that existing  conditions  that protect  consumers,
  including  limitations  on  entry  prices,  restrictions  on  trade  promotion
  lotteries and gaming machine play and standard  terms and conditions for trade
  promotion  lotteries  will  continue  to apply.  Businesses  conducting  trade
  promotion lotteries must also still comply with Australian Consumer Law.
  The coalition government is focused on implementing  its commitment to require
  precommitment to be  available on all gaming machines in Victoria  by 2015-16.
  The bill provides the power for the minister to specify standard terms for the
  arrangements between venue operators and the precommitment provider.

  This will reduce the administrative burden on venues by obviating the need for
  individual   commercial   negotiations   between   venue  operators   and  the
  precommitment provider.
  The  bill  also provides for the period of  registration  or  licensing  of  a
  bookmaker, bookmaker's  key  employee, bingo  centre operator  and  commercial
  raffle  organiser to be extended from 5 to 10 years.  This is  consistent with
  the  period  of a range of other licences under the gambling  legislation  and
  will reduce the regulatory burden on those businesses.
  The bill provides  that authorised deposit-taking institutions may possess and
  dispose of gaming machines  and  gaming  equipment  by way of security under a
  financial agreement.

  This will assist venue operators entering  into  financial  arrangements  with
  financial institutions by removing the requirement for  financial institutions
  to be listed  on the  roll of manufacturers, suppliers and testers in order to
  repossess  gaming machines in the event of a financial default  by  the  venue
  operator.
  The bill also  includes  amendments designed  to  maintain and strengthen  the
  integrity of the liquor and gaming sectors.
  Mr  Des  Gleeson,  former  chairman  of  stewards  for  Racing  Victoria,  was
  commissioned  by  the Victorian coalition  government to conduct  a  review of
  sports betting regulation  and to provide  advice  on measures to  enhance the
  existing regulatory regime. The bill  includes amendments that will strengthen
  public confidence in the integrity of sporting events and sports betting.

  The  bill  introduces new requirements  for  the monitoring  of  the integrity
  mechanisms of sports controlling bodies by  the VCGLR. Currently the VCGLR has
  a range of  monitoring functions for licences  issued under the  gambling  and
  liquor legislation as well  as a role in  approving sports controlling bodies.
  The bill provides an  explicit  role  for  the  VCGLR to monitor any integrity
  mechanisms  introduced  by a  sports  controlling body.  This  will  assist in
  ensuring that sports controlling  bodies are appropriately enforcing their own
  integrity mechanisms.
  The bill will provide that  a  sports controlling body can make an application
  to the VCGLR for the banning  of  a particular bet type. In the  event  that a
  sports controlling  body  believes that  a  bet  type or  contingency  carries
  integrity risks or is not in  the public interest, the sports controlling body
  will be  able  to  apply to the  VCGLR  to  consider banning the  bet  type or
  contingency.

  Any  ban of a sports betting  contingency made by the VCGLR  will apply to all
  sports betting providers.
  The bill also increases the penalty  for offering betting on events without an
  agreement with  the relevant sports  controlling  body in place,  assisting to
  ensure that sporting 

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bodies receive a fair share of the revenues from betting on sports.
  The bill also  provides  for mutual recognition  of sports controlling  bodies
  approved in another Australian jurisdiction provided that the approval process
  in that jurisdiction  is  equivalent to that in Victoria. This will reduce the
  burden   on   sports  controlling   bodies   seeking   approval   in  multiple
  jurisdictions.
  The bill amends the maximum commission rate that can be deducted under betting
  rules  in relation to pooling arrangements with international totalisators for
  wagering events that are conducted outside Australia from  25  per  cent to 40
  per cent. This will enable the wagering and betting licensee to  increase  the
  range of  products  offered  by  facilitating  entry  into shared  pools  with
  operators in jurisdictions such as New Zealand, South Africa and Singapore.

  Notably,  this  will  not  affect the  maximum  commission rate  for  domestic
  totalisators.
  The  bill provides for the  collection of unclaimed money from gaming machines
  to occur in accordance with the Gambling Regulation Act 2003  rather  than the
  more complicated  requirements  of  the  Unclaimed  Money  Act 2008.  This  is
  consistent with the treatment of unclaimed money for other gambling licensees,
  and will not remove the right of patrons to recover any money owed.
  The  bill also clarifies the method for calculating gaming machine taxation to
  make it clear  that  tax is calculated on  the basis of the  number  of gaming
  machines connected to the monitoring system. It is important to note that this
  amendment does not change how the tax has been or will be calculated, and does
  not increase the tax payable by venue operators.

  The bill resolves  an  inconsistency in the  Gambling  Regulation Act 2003  to
  reflect  the intention of the provision  that  clubs  that  fail  to  lodge  a
  community   benefit  statement  or  fail  to  make  the   required   community
  contribution are required to pay tax at the rate for hotel gaming machines.
  Additionally,  the  bill  modernises existing  requirements, removes  obsolete
  requirements and  makes  a number of  minor  and technical amendments  to  the
  gambling legislation.
  One of the objectives of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998  is to  contribute
  to  the  development of the  live music industry. The  coalition government is
  strongly supportive of developing Victoria's live music industry, establishing
  the live music  roundtable  to provide  a  forum to discuss  liquor  licensing
  issues that affect the live music industry.

  The  impact  of  planning  and  amenity  issues on their business is a primary
  concern for the  live  music industry. This  bill contains an  amendment  that
  demonstrates the coalition government's commitment to the Victorian live music
  industry  and  builds  on other  reforms  in  this  area.  In  considering any
  complaint about whether a live music venue is affecting  the  amenity  of  the
  area  in  which  the  licensed  premises  is  situated,  the VCGLR will have a
  legislative obligation to  consider  whether the licensee was operating before
  any change occurred to the local area which raises concern about amenity.
  The  bill  creates  a  new  power for the minister to require  certain  liquor
  licensees and employees  to  undertake advanced responsible service of alcohol
  training.  The  training will  better  equip late  night  licensees  with  the
  knowledge and skills to help reduce the risk of alcohol-related harm.

  It is  intended  that  all new  late-trading  licensees will  be  required  to
  undertake  advanced RSA training, as well as any existing late-night licensees
  that incur a demerit point for a relevant breach of the regulatory framework.
  The  Victorian  Auditor-General's  report  on  the  Effectiveness  of  Justice
  Strategies  in Preventing and Reducing Alcohol-Related Harm estimated that the
  annual  cost of alcohol-related  harm in Victoria is  $4.3 billion. The report
  recommended the collection and analysis of alcohol sales data.
  The   bill  includes   amendments   that  deliver   on  the  Auditor-General's
  recommendation by providing  for  the collection  of  alcohol sales data  from
  large wholesalers on an annual basis.

  The  bill  makes  it  clear  that  these provisions will not  apply  to  small
  businesses, such as small breweries, distillers and  winemakers, and also will
  not apply to a range of liquor licence holders that do not engage in wholesale
  sales,  such  as  clubs,  hotels,  packaged  liquor licensees  and  late night
  licensees, and those holding  general  and  on-premises  licences.  This  will
  ensure that small businesses will not be subject to this additional compliance
  requirement.
  It  is intended that the definition of small business will  be  determined  in
  consultation with industry, the Minister for Small  Business and the  Minister
  for Mental Health,  and set  out in a ministerial order. Industry will also be
  consulted during  development of the  regulations which will  specify  how the
  information will be reported, collected and used.

  These amendments bring Victoria  into line with other Australian jurisdictions
  that  already  collect  this data,  such  as  Queensland,  Western  Australia,
  Northern Territory and the  Australian  Capital Territory. Consistent with the
  objectives of the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998, these amendments will assist
  in the development,  implementation and evaluation of  policy relating to  the
  regulation and consumption of liquor.
  The  bill allows the Governor in Council to appoint sessional commissioners of
  the  VCGLR  who will be able to undertake limited functions under the relevant
  legislation. This  will  increase the  flexibility  and efficiency of  the new
  combined regulator.
  Finally,  the bill makes a number of amendments  to  assist  to  simplify  and
  streamline the operation of gambling and liquor legislation.

  I commend the bill to the house.
Debate adjourned on motion of Mr SCOTT (Preston).
Debate adjourned until Wednesday, 20 August.

                          TOBACCO AMENDMENT BILL 2014
                           Statement of compatibility
Ms  WOOLDRIDGE  (Minister  for Mental  Health)  tabled  following  statement  in
accordance with Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006:
  In   accordance  with  section  28   of  the  Charter  of   Human  Rights  and
  Responsibilities  Act  2006  (the  charter  act),  I  make  this statement  of
  compatibility with respect to the Tobacco Amendment Bill 2014 (the bill).
  In my  opinion,  the bill,  as  introduced  to the  Legislative  Assembly,  is
  compatible with the human rights  protected  by  the  charter  act.  I base my
  opinion on the reasons outlined in this statement.

  Overview of bill
  The purpose of  the bill is to prohibit smoking in specified outdoor areas, to
  prohibit  smoking  in the  vicinity  of  pedestrian access  points  to certain
  places, to increase the penalty in section  11A of  the principal  act and  to
  amend the powers of inspectors in relation to monitoring compliance  with, and
  investigating  possible  contravention  of,  certain  provisions   prohibiting
  smoking  in outdoor areas. It is intended  that  the  new  smoking  bans  will
  further limit exposure  to second-hand  smoke,  denormalise smoking,  minimise
  littering and improve public amenity by providing for more smoke-free areas in
  Victoria.
  Human rights issues

  A charter right that is relevant to the bill  is the right to privacy which is
  contained in section 13 of the charter act.
  Clauses 12 and 13 of the bill  clarify  the  circumstances in which inspectors
  may enter and search premises with consent and enter premises  which  are open
  to the public.
  Clause 14 of the bill  inserts a new section  36EA  into the Tobacco Act  1987
  (the principal act). This section empowers inspectors to enter school premises
  and  premises  where education  and  care services or  children's services are
  provided  in order to monitor compliance with or investigate  a  breach  of  a
  smoking ban which applies to outdoor areas of those premises.

  The right to privacy  is relevant  to the  new section  36EA. The bill clearly
  defines the circumstances in  which an inspector may enter premises without  a
  warrant  and  provides  that  an inspector may only exercise the power if  the
  occupier  of  the  premises  consents  to  the  entry  and  the  inspector  is
  accompanied by either  the  occupier or  a  person  acting on  the  occupier's
  behalf. An  occupier's consent must  be informed and acknowledged  in writing.
  These safeguards  ensure  that the interference  with the right to  privacy is
  kept to the minimum  necessary to allow  for inspectors to monitor  compliance
  with and enforce the new outdoor smoking bans.
   Hon. Mary Wooldridge, MP
 Minister for Mental Health