{"id":777033191,"date":"2025-10-16T07:52:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T10:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777033191"},"modified":"2026-04-21T18:09:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T21:09:54","slug":"victoria-councils-criticize-government-over-leniency-on-gambling-loss-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/victoria-councils-criticize-government-over-leniency-on-gambling-loss-limits","title":{"rendered":"Victoria councils criticise state government’s change of course on gambling loss limits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monash council has refused to back an ongoing trial of carded play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Australia.- Victorian councils have accused the state government of not doing enough to reduce gambling harm in the jurisdiction. They have criticised the decision to make limit-setting optional for players in the ongoing gambling harm prevention trial across several council areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the three-month initiative<\/strong> that started in September<\/strong>, players at 43 venues<\/strong> in Monash, Greater Dandenong, and Ballarat councils <\/strong>must sign up for a YourPlay card<\/strong> to play on electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The card tracks the time and money spent on the machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state government had originally intended to make loss limit setting mandatory, but the language was changed to state that players \u201ccan\u201d set loss limits, making it a choice. Monash has refused to back the trial unless the state makes the policy compulsory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Klisaris<\/strong>, Monash City mayor, said: \u201cWe are disappointed the Victorian Government did not include mandatory and binding loss limits in their trial, and we do not support it given this omission. We want to see the reversal of the state government’s position on the card and how it’s implemented.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Councillors in Greater Dandenong and Ballarat indicated they will continue to support the trial, although they would like the government to make limits mandatory. Mayor Tracey Hargreaves <\/strong>of Ballarat said: “This represents a missed opportunity to gather meaningful early insights into the potential harm-prevention benefits of mandatory carded play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Memeti<\/strong>, mayor of the City of Greater Dandenong added: \u201cWe believe that our support will allow us to better influence the outcomes of the trial, including binding limits being set as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Victoria sets September start for mandatory carded play trial amid industry concerns<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monash council has refused to back an ongoing trial of carded play.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":777033194,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Victorian Government's gambling harm prevention trial, featuring carded play for Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs), faces significant opposition from local councils due to its optional loss limit setting. Monash council has withdrawn support, citing a missed opportunity for meaningful data on mandatory limits, while other councils continue participation to influence future policy. This regulatory divergence highlights ongoing debates regarding effective responsible gambling frameworks and their operational implications for the iGaming sector.","focusai_entities":"Monash council, Greater Dandenong council, Ballarat council, Victorian Government, Paul Klisaris, Tracey Hargreaves, Jim Memeti","focusai_location":"Australia, Victoria, Monash, Greater Dandenong, Ballarat","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), product_ux (0.8), tech_data (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"GGR Impact Analysis","query":"What are the projected GGR impacts for Victorian EGM operators if mandatory loss limits are ultimately implemented across the jurisdiction?"},{"label":"Regulatory Reconciliation Strategy","query":"How does the Victorian Government plan to reconcile the opposition from local councils with its broader objectives for gambling harm reduction and the future of carded play policy?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,154],"tags":[289,229,225],"class_list":["post-777033191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-australia","tag-gambling","tag-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777033191"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777033217,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777033191\/revisions\/777033217"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777033194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777033191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777033191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777033191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}