Australians have been notorious for their gambling habits, and New South Wales isn’t sitting on its hands, having contributed to the changes happening on a national level throughout the year. The RGF is a part of these efforts.
Two Newly Appointed, One Reappointed
New South Wales (NSW) has its own Responsible Gambling Fund (RGF) Trust, which advises the NSW government on its allocation of funds regarding gambling. Two new trustees were appointed to fill out two of the nine total trustee seats, and a third one was reappointed. The two new trustees are Sara Pantzer – an experienced government relations specialist, and Kylie Holford – an accomplished financial counselor. The reappointed seat was Elizabeth Lyne – an accountant and auditor in public practice and commercial accounting.
A report by iGaming Business confirmed that it was Mark McCrindle and Janett Milligan who would be stepping down from their trustee roles. McCrindle is the founder of McCrindle Research, and a social researcher himself, while Milligan is a senior executive from the NSW Government. Pantzer’s experience is in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, while Holford’s focus has been working with people who are in debt or can’t meet their expenses.
The rest of the selection of RGF trustees have a wide range of specialties in a variety of fields, including Paul Newson – the former deputy secretary of Liquor, Gaming, and Racing with the NSW Department of Justice. This ensures that as a key advisory force behind the state’s initiatives and programs that are aimed at reducing gambling addiction and endorsing responsible gambling, RGF is keenly aware of the multiple nuances that go into the decision-making process.
Australia’s Big Push for Gambling Reforms
This is especially important as Australia is often mentioned when discussing gambling harm, ranking first in the world with gambling spending per capita of the total population, which has cost Australians dearly. An even bigger issue, though, is that even children under the age of 16 have been found to gamble online, with a recent report by the Alliance for Gambling Reform stating they number around 430,000 which has many people extremely worried.
The year has been crowded with headlines about the state of the industry in the country, with some of its biggest operators facing losing their licenses because of regulatory compliance. The problem is further exacerbated when reports start narrating that gambling operators are keeping the proceeds of criminals with problem gambling.
NSW has been very busy this year, addressing many of the issues that anti-gambling critics were raising. Earlier this year, it increased its Point of Consumption tax from 10% to 15%, and then went on to create the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) – an entirely new regulatory body, part of the country’s ongoing efforts to reform its gambling regulation and improve the industry’s compliance.