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Table Of Content :

ACT Introduces Bill for Mandatory Cashless Gaming and Poker Machine Cuts

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Altay
Altay Celikkaya
Content Manager
Updated:
Reading Time: 2 minutes

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government introduced legislation on 20 October 2026 to make account-based cashless gaming mandatory at venues with poker machines. The Gaming Machine (Harm Prevention and Reduction) Amendment Bill 2026 would also introduce player safeguards, ban ATMs at affected venues and establish a long-term reduction in machine authorisations.

Announced during Gambling Harm Action Week, the package would change how clubs manage payments, monitor gambling activity and provide access to machines. The proposed requirements remain subject to the legislative process.

Poker machines and a card reader illustrating ACT’s proposed gambling harm reforms.

Regulation & Compliance

Key Takeaways From ACT’s Gambling Reform Bill

  • Players would need registered accounts and would be subject to maximum loss limits to use poker machines.

  • Mandatory breaks would interrupt extended gambling sessions.

  • ATM restrictions would limit access to additional cash inside affected venues.

  • Machine authorisations would fall to no more than 1,000 by 2045.

Account-Based Gaming Would Reshape Venue Operations

Under the government’s published reform framework, players would register with a venue, provide identification, load funds onto a player account card and set a maximum loss limit before gambling.

Accounts would record spending and losses within a venue. Clubs would also enforce a 15-minute break after every hour of continuous poker machine play.

ACT Minister for Gaming Reform Marisa Paterson said in the official announcement:

The gambling industry’s responsibility does not end at providing entertainment.

For operators and technology suppliers, implementation would require reliable account records and controls that consistently apply the agreed restrictions. Australia’s recent Palmerbet BetStop investigation demonstrated how inaccurate customer details can undermine automated player-protection checks.

The technical challenge also has parallels with Illinois’s proposed expansion of gambling self-exclusion, where extending protections across physical gaming locations requires supporting systems and implementation rules.

Machine Reductions Establish a Long-Term Supply Target

The bill would require surrendering at least 500 gaming machine authorisations every four years until the territory reaches a maximum of 1,000 by 2045.

The target concerns authorisations, so it is important to distinguish permitted machine capacity from the number of machines operating at any given time.

For clubs, the proposed pathway creates a longer-term planning issue alongside the immediate work of adapting payment and account systems. Business planning would need to consider future machine capacity and the operational requirements of the remaining machines.

The focus on gambling availability sits alongside wider debates over venue access, including proposed UK changes to gambling premises licensing, although the jurisdictions use different legal mechanisms.

Payment Restrictions Follow Separate Implementation Routes

The ACT framework distinguishes between removing ATMs and preventing EFTPOS cash withdrawals. The ATM ban forms part of the bill, while EFTPOS withdrawal restrictions would be introduced through a separate regulation.

The government’s guidance provides for a 12-month transition for account-based gaming and ATM removal. It describes a shorter commencement period for the separate EFTPOS measure.

These different routes mean venues will need to track the legislation and supporting regulations individually when scheduling changes to payment arrangements and gaming operations. Parliamentary approval, notification and commencement remain necessary steps before the bill’s proposed requirements become enforceable.