Advocacy groups and experts accuse Chris Minns of misrepresenting key findings<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Australia.- New South Wales premier Chris Minns has been criticised for describing the state\u2019s cashless gambling trial as \u201clargely ineffective\u201d and suggesting that his government may abandon the policy. Advocacy groups and social services organisations accuse Minns of misrepresenting the goals and outcomes of the trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pilot, initiated in early 2024, was one of the responses to a 2022 NSW Crime Commission report on in criminal proceeds passing through the state\u2019s 90,000 gaming machines. Designed to test whether cashless technology could track transactions and reduce gambling-related harm, the trial involved just 14 \u201cgenuine and active\u201d participants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A report from a government-appointed independent panel concluded that the technology had been successful and recommended that cashless gambling become mandatory by 2028. However, Premier Minns dismissed the results last week, citing high costs and limited impact on problem gambling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt hasn\u2019t worked,\u201d Minns said. \u201cIt\u2019s not driven down the incidents of problem gambling… the cost of compliance is astronomical. I can\u2019t really justify spending hundreds of millions when we need new public schools and transport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charity Wesley Mission general manager Jim Wackett said: \u201cThe trial was never about changing people\u2019s behaviour. It was about seeing if the technology worked \u2013 and it did. This is about accountability, transparency, and preventing harm. You don\u2019t throw away the roadmap just because the first step was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
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