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Under the Gambling Act 2003, the Council is required to have a policy to control the growth of gambling in the district and to prevent and minimise the harm caused by gambling. The policy relates to Class 4 gambling which includes "pokie" machines and TAB stand alone board venues. It does not affect TAB facilities in taverns and hotels. The policy is required to be reviewed every three years.

The Council, through the preparation of a social impact study and in consultation with the public and gaming machine societies, first decided that a sinking lid policy would be used to reduce the number of "pokie" machines in the district by attrition. This first policy came into force 18 May 2004.

In 2007, following further consultation  with the public, gaming machine operators and societies, the Council  reviewed the policy and amended it to one that caps the number of "pokie" machines in the district to the level current at that time. This allows for any machine that is removed from one premise to be potentially available to another applicant, as long as the total number of machines in the district remains under the capping number of 154.

This year (July 2010) the Council again reviewed the policy as it is required to do. Currently Council staff are collating the results of the consultation and a report will be brought to the Council in August/September. Once the new policy has been ratified it will be available on this website.

Click here to see the current Gaming Policy.

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