The ACT government has introduced legislation that would require poker-machine players to use identity-verified accounts, impose mandatory loss controls and breaks, remove ATMs from gaming venues, and cut the Territory’s machine total to 1,000 by 2045.
The Gaming Machine (Harm Prevention and Reduction) Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Oct. 20 during Gambling Harm Action Week. It would establish an account-based system for electronic gaming machines, under which a person must apply for a player account and have their identity positively verified before receiving a player card.
The introduction turns the package outlined in our prior coverage into legislation before the Assembly.
Machines would be playable only through the card-based account system. Players would have to set pre-commitment controls covering either a net-loss limit or a playing period, and a player seeking to raise an existing net-loss limit would face a 48-hour wait; they could lower it at any time.
The bill would also require a 15-minute break after one hour of play. It creates offences for licensees that issue a player card to a child or allow a child to use the account-based gaming system at authorised premises.
Venues with gaming machines would no longer be permitted to have ATMs. The measure would replace the current $250 daily limit on ATM withdrawals at gaming venues with a complete ban.
The legislation sets a staged reduction in gaming-machine availability. It requires the surrender of 500 electronic gaming-machine authorisations every four years, beginning with the first compulsory round in 2029, to reach a Territory-wide total of 1,000 machines by 2045.
It also proposes a 15-hour weekly reduction in poker-machine operating time, with shutdown periods running from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Thursday and from 2 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Fridays. Proposed self-exclusion periods would range from six months to five years, replacing a previous maximum of three years.
The account-based gaming and ATM provisions would start only after written notice from the minister, allowing venues time to adapt and upgrade their management technology. The explanatory statement says the bill seeks to balance harm reduction with the club industry’s future financial viability.
The system would collect and store player identification and gambling information, which the explanatory statement acknowledges limits privacy rights under the ACT’s Human Rights Act 2004. Licensees would have to maintain records of accounts, cards, transactions and player-credit values, and prepare monthly de-identified reports on such measures as losses, loss limits and session lengths.
The bill cites the 2024 ACT Gambling Survey, which found that 15.8% of ACT adults, or more than 58,000 people, reported at least one type of gambling harm. Electronic gaming machines accounted for one-third of the Territory’s total gambling-harm burden, while people who used them at least monthly were two to four times more likely to report moderate-risk or problem gambling.
The ACT government described the package as the most significant gambling reform in the Territory’s history. The Alliance for Gambling Reform welcomed the bill but said it should include legislated mandatory loss limits, enforceable breaks and longer shutdown periods.
The government is seeking feedback on the Gambling and Racing Commission’s draft 2027-2032 Harm Prevention Strategy until Nov. 16.
