About the Independent
Gambling Authority
The Independent
Gambling Authority is the senior South Australian regulator for
commercial forms of gambling.
These include casino
gambling, gaming machines in hotels and clubs, wagering on races and
sports and commercial lotteries. The Authority exercises functions and
powers under the legislation relevant to these forms of gambling.
In addition, the
Authority is established as a statutory corporation, and has functions
and powers under the Independent Gambling Authority Act 1995
The members of the
Authority are appointed by the South Australian State Government. The
Authority is required to perform its functions independently of
Ministerial direction. The Authority is accountable to Parliament
through the Minister for Gambling.
Responsible gambling
The Authority’s
statutory charter includes dealing with the impact on the community of
commercial gambling.
As part of this, the
Authority is responsible for mandatory advertising and responsible
gambling codes of practice. There are codes of practice for
Skycity Adelaide, hotels and clubs with
gaming machines, SA TAB, licensed racing clubs, licensed bookmakers and
SA Lotteries.
The Authority is also
required to give guidelines for the approval of games in the casino and
in hotels and clubs, and for the granting of gaming machine
licences.
The Authority
administers a state-wide voluntary barring scheme in relation to gaming
machine gaming and is the responsible body for the problem gambling
family protection orders scheme which commenced in July 2004.
Under its research
charter, the Authority has commissioned several research projects,
including but not limited to: evaluative research to examine the impact
of the advertising and responsible gambling codes of practice; annual
updates of a literature review of gambling research; an economic impacts
study; a study into the relevance and role of games and game features on
the play of problem gamblers; and research to inform inquiries (assigned
by the Minister for gambling) that have been conducted in relation to
gaming machine numbers.
From time to time the
Authority is assigned various tasks by the Minister for Gambling or the
Parliament. These have included an Inquiry into the management of gaming
machine numbers, a study of the relationship between crime and problem
gambling; an inquiry into the effectiveness of Government funded
gambling rehabilitation services; and an inquiry into smart card
technology.
This website includes
detailed information about the Authority’s codes of practice and its
inquiries, as well as its
research and the
guidelines.
The Authority has a
general obligation to take responsible gambling issues into account when
making regulatory decisions.
Regulation and
supervision
The Authority’s
regulatory and supervisory role is to ensure that an effective and
efficient system of supervision is established and maintained over the
operations of the licensed gambling industry in South Australia—this
relates to the operations in the casino, gaming machines in hotels and
clubs and wagering on races and other events (SA TAB, licensed racing
clubs and licensed bookmakers).
The Authority works closely with the Liquor and Gambling Commissioner,
who is responsible for day-to-day compliance and enforcement and
compliance issues and for granting licences
for gaming machine businesses, bookmaker operations and approvals for
employees to work in the casino and gaming machine businesses.
The Liquor and
Gambling Commissioner is responsible to the Authority for the constant
scrutiny of licensed gambling businesses.
Information about the
processes for ownership changes in major licensees may be found
here.
Members and staff of
the Authority
The
members of the Authority (as at 1 October 2007) are: Mr Alan Moss
(Presiding Member), Ms Margaret Kelly (Deputy Presiding Member), Ms
Robyn Buckler, Mr John Hill, Mr Rex Jory, Ms Margaret Wallace and Mr
Dale West. The Authority is supported an office headed by
Mr Robert Chappell, Director, who is the statutory secretary to the
Authority.
Legislation
The relevant South
Australian gambling acts, listed below, can be viewed on line from the
Parliament legislation site —
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Authorised
Betting Operations Act 2000, Casino Act 1997, Gaming Machines Act 1992,
Independent Gambling Authority Act 1995, Problem Gambling Family
Protection Orders Act 2004, Racing (Proprietary Business Licensing) Act
2000, State Lotteries Act 1966.
This website includes
codes of practice,
guidelines and
rules
made by the Authority.
Ministerial
responsibility
The Authority is
responsible to the Minister for Gambling, Hon. Paul
Caica, MP.
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