Loading
It also permits “indirect” and “miscellaneous” community benefits including employment costs, auditing expenses and utility bills.
Last year, after Hume City Council raised concerns about the tax loophole, the state government said it was considering the concessions, telling The Age it was “important that clubs invest back into the communities they’re hosted by, to ensure more people can benefit from the revenue they bring in”.
Asked about the status of the review on Saturday, Casino, Gaming and Liquor Minister Melissa Horne said it was important that clubs invested back into the communities they were hosted by.
“I’ve met with multiple councils to hear their concerns around gambling harm and how it affects their communities — and we’ve responded with our landmark reforms,” she said.
“We’ve announced the strongest gambling harm protections in Australia, with the first of these reforms passing parliament last year.”
Andrew Lloyd, chief executive of Community Clubs Victoria, said the latest analysis hid the amount of tariffs that clubs had to cover, including gaming taxes, GST and a supervision charge designed to recover the costs of regulating the gaming industry in Victoria.
He said he was “open to a conversation” about the concession. “Clubs follow the system that’s in place, and they are claiming what they are permitted to,” Lloyd said.
“Lobby groups don’t always appreciate the contribution that clubs are making. Clubs work by the system that is in place, but they offer subsidised facilities and contribute to local communities such as covering the cost of ground maintenance, removing the cost from local councils.”
Loading
Before the 2022 state election, Community Clubs Victoria, which represents pubs, clubs and RSLs – but excludes Crown casino – received “letters of comfort” from Labor and the Coalition, guaranteeing no policy changes that eat into gaming machine revenue, following a crackdown on Crown casino.
Less than 12 months later, then-premier Daniel Andrews announced a crackdown on the state’s 27,372 machines in pubs, clubs and hotels that would force all venues to close between 4am and 10am – except those at Crown casino – by the middle of this year.
Despite this reform, tax revenue from poker machines in Victoria is forecast to rise next financial year growing to $1.407 billion from $1.373 billion in 2023-24.
Lloyd said Community Clubs Victoria supported some of the “harm-minimisation measures” flagged by the government. “We don’t want to push people online where we are less regulated,” he said.