Clubs across Australia and New Zealand are governed by strict rules that dictate gambling and alcohol service. Recently, some groups in New Zealand asked for clarification about gaming machine rules on days that alcohol is restricted at clubs – for example, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Sunday and ANZAC Day. ClubsNZ provided a press release to address this question.
According to the document, the Gambling Act 2003 does not restrict the hours of operation but places some constraints on poker machine gameplay. Firstly, gaming machines cannot be operated unless the ‘primary activity’ of the club is being offered. Primary activities of clubs are wide ranging – from serving food to broadcasting sports and offering entertainment facilities.
If any of these activities are not available, then the club is not permitted to operate its poker machines. These rules are particularly important for taverns. This classification of venue has a primary activity of ‘serving alcohol to patrons’. On days where serving alcohol is not permitted, the club is also not able to operating its pokies. Another important factor is staffing. On holidays like ANZAC Day, there may be reduced staff.
A club may not be as busy on these holidays, so managers are likely to schedule fewer employees to work. However, the club must still meet its Class 4 Gambling requirements. For example, there should still be sufficient staff on the gaming floor to supervise pokie players. “To sum up, the decision whether a venue can operate its gaming machines is heavily fact dependent,” the report reads.
Gaming club owners can learn more about alcohol service and gaming regulations at: http://clubsnz.org.nz/.
The Department of Internal Affairs also provides a great resource for this information.
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