A comprehensive pre-commitment system is in place in Norway. This successful system allows people to set limits on all forms of gambling. The Tasmanian government recently announced an intention to introduce a universal pre-commitment system in 2024. This will utilise preset limits of $100 a day, $500 a month, and $5000 a year.

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All Australian poker machines (except in the ACT) are networked via a monitoring system allowing data to be collected in real time. This is the basis for ensuring integrity of state revenue, and monitoring the performance of venues and individual machines. For these reasons, it is highly secure. And monitoring systems provide the infrastructure for a pre-commitment system. Data stored via such systems is subject to robust privacy provisions.

Casinos and many clubs and pubs also currently operate loyalty systems, collecting and storing data on people’s gambling. These are technically identical to pre-commitment systems, but differ in their goals. Loyalty systems encourage increased spending, and harvest data for promotional and marketing purposes.

Compared with facial-recognition systems, privacy and data concerns expressed by critics of pre-commitment pale into insignificance. Facial recognition will not prevent money laundering, and it is no solution to harmful gambling. It will, however, provide poker machine operators with additional ability to aggressively target and market their gambling products.

Pre-commitment systems support gamblers to control their spending using binding limits. They provide a basis for enforcing one’s best intentions. They have the added attraction of providing a basis for effective and universal self-exclusion, for people who want to ban themselves from gambling. An anonymous, enforceable system such as this is currently not available.

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The Finkelstein Royal Commission into Crown casino in Victoria recommended casinos use pre-commitment systems for poker machine and other gambling. Crown and Star have committed to such systems. The Bergin Inquiry into Crown’s suitability to operate the Barangaroo casino indicated the desirability of a pre-commitment system.

A universal pre-commitment system would not solve everything. But it would provide people with a workable tool to manage their gambling, allow for a fully effective self-exclusion system, and give authorities a powerful tool to address money laundering.

Clubs and pubs that want to keep out dirty money, and protect their patrons, should surely embrace pre-commitment. These seem like goals worth pursuing. Only vested interest, and a lack of imagination, stand in the way.