Today, a motion from the Greens Spokesperson for Gambling, Rebecca Vassarottti has secured a commitment from the government to review the Community Contributions Scheme, which requires venues operating poker machines to reinvest a portion of their revenue into community initiatives.
The review will examine the appropriateness of in-kind donations, following criticism from Vassarotti earlier this month that profit-driven clubs are using in-kind donations to reduce their actual investment in the local community.
“Last year, Canberra clubs logged nearly $7 million in reported community contributions. But accounting loopholes mean a massive chunk of that is just ‘in-kind’ only, reducing how much real cash gets invested in our community.
“Now, information obtained by my office from the government has exposed serious concerns about the integrity and transparency of how clubs distribute this money, with all nineteen audited pokies venues found to be in breach of their reporting obligations.
“This won’t surprise many in our community who have watched clubs steamroll massive developments under the guise of ‘diversification,’ all while keeping their pokies running and failing to meet basic reporting rules.
“Despite all the community-first rhetoric, a club engaging in this behaviour isn’t putting the community first, they’re prioritising their corporate interests.
“If clubs are serious about earning a social license, they can’t keep using empty rooms as multi-hundred-dollar tax write-offs. If they want to support the community, they should lend them the other-wise empty rooms anyway.
“For years, there hasn’t been a single detailed audit to check if these venues are meeting their basic obligations. Now, the single audit that was conducted proves exactly why we need proper and routine regulation.
“As a former Minister, I can tell you there is a systemic culture in government that passively trusts these businesses to self-regulate, when time and time again, they’ve proven they can’t. And we need to wake-up and end it for good.
“It is a disgrace that, in a cost-of-living crisis, where everyday people are expected to pinch pennies and ‘do the right thing’, clubs are raking in million-dollar cash operating surpluses while flouting the rules.
“Our community shouldn’t have to tolerate these double standards any longer.
“This review into in-kind donations will work hand-in-hand with our push for a centralised, independent community fund. Together, they have the potential to establish a best-practice model to distribute community money ethically.
“Every dollar of community contributions should deliver real, tangible outcomes for local sports, weekend footy, and the community groups that actually hold Canberra together, and this agreement sets that work in place.”
The exact wording of Ms Vassarotti’s motion to the ACT Legislative Assembly, which secured support from the government, specifically calls for:
- A review into the operation of the community contributions scheme, including transparency, compliance, the appropriateness of including in-kind contributions in calculations, the value for money delivered by the current model, and expected funding changes from the proposed gambling reforms;
- A feasibility study into a centralised, independent fund for community contributions to ensure long term sustainable funding for community purposes, including: appropriate governance models; streamlined distribution models; mechanisms to maintain and enhance the value to the community of community contribution funds; and,
- Consider funding a peak community sports body to ensure the interests of community sport are represented through this transition.
