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QCAT agrees pokies not suitable for town

A small regional town in Far North Queensland will remain free of pokies after a tribunal agreed that gambling machines should not be introduced there.

In January 2019, the Junction Hotel at Dimbulah, in the Atherton Tablelands west of Mareeba, sought a category one gaming machine licence under the Gaming Machine Act 1991 (Qld) and approval to operate eight gaming machines.

In February 2021, the Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming refused the licence, and that decision was confirmed in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Brisbane in August.

In the QCAT decision published last month, Member Lumb agreed with the Commissioner that pokies were not suitable for the town of just over 1000 residents which had a low socio-economic profile.

The Commissioner had refused the application for reasons including:

  • “significant community opposition lodged by residents and those with a proper interest in the locality of the application”, including concerns about low education attainment and high unemployment;
  • objections by the council and local Member of Parliament;
  • lack of evidence as to how the hotel could operate in a way that could suitably minimise the risk of machine gambling; and
  • the community having members particularly vulnerable to gambling, such as “lone person households, those with lower educational attainment, unemployed individuals, and Aboriginal people”.

Member Lumb pointed to a petition containing 433 signatures (with at least 333 of the objectors living in Dimbulah), which he said showed “the general basis of opposition was a concern that gaming machine gambling would have negative financial, social and mental health effects on the local Dimbulah community”.

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“There appears to be no dispute that the material shows that, statistically, Dimbulah is economically disadvantaged, and that there are likely to be persons within the catchment of the Applicant’s business who are at greater risk of gambling-related harm than other members of the community,” he said.

“I am satisfied that the local community exhibits a higher level of disadvantage when compared to the Mareeba local government area and the QRRB (Queensland Remainder Regional Benchmark).”

The gaming machine licence application required a community impact statement and a statement of responsible gambling initiatives, statements which Member Lumb said fell short.

He said he did not accept the hotel’s submission that gaming machines were already “readily available” to Dimbulah locals.

“In terms of accessibility, I consider that the Applicant’s reference to the fact that there are several gaming venues in Mareeba, which town is about half an hour’s drive from Dimbulah, is of little relevance,” he said.

“I consider there is significant difference between the availability of gaming machines at the local hotel which is within a relatively short drive (or perhaps walking distance in some cases) compared with an approximate one hour round trip to Mareeba.”

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The hotel said as part of its Responsible Gambling Policy, it would implement self-exclusion practices, and was prepared to install pre-commitment technology and facial recognition software in adopting “best practice management strategies”.

It also said it was willing to accept conditions requiring strict management of gaming conduct.

Member Lumb said the proposed risk-minimisation measures were, in principle, worthwhile, but could not be taken into consideration.

“I have had regard to the significant community opposition to the grant of the licence and the fact that the underlying basis for much of the opposition is the socio-economic position of the local community and that it is ‘doing it tough’,” he said.

“Whilst I accept that community opposition, even significant community opposition, will not necessarily result in the refusal of a gaming licence, such opposition is a relevant consideration to be taken into account and should be given weight in the present case.

“The opposition of each of the local council and the State Member of Parliament is also relevant to the decision.

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“I also consider it relevant that:

 (a) Dimbulah is a small regional Queensland town that is economically disadvantaged, with the local community exhibiting a higher level of disadvantage when compared to Mareeba;

(b) there are likely to be persons within the catchment of the Applicant’s business who are at greater risk of gambling-related harm than other members of the community;

(c) there are presently no other gaming machines in Dimbulah.”

Member Lumb concluded the correct and preferable decision was the decision to refuse to grant the licence be confirmed.

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