Gaming raises nearly $27m for grants in August

Charitable gaming industry raises nearly $27m for community grants in August

A survey of members of the Charity Gaming Association shows the 88 charitable gaming trusts which operate gaming machines in hotels and bars have raised nearly $27 million for community grants during August, the Chief Executive of the Charity Gaming Association, Francis Wevers, said today.

“In addition the charitable gaming sector paid nearly $21 million in gaming duty, GST, problem gambling levies and other fees to the taxpayer.

“The CGA survey covers members who operate 66% of the gaming machines in hotels and bars.

“The figures from August 2005 show the effects of changes in the situation at most venues. The ban on smoking, introduced just before Christmas, had a substantial negative impact as have the changes in the ability of trusts to compensate venue owners appropriately for the cost of hosting gaming machines.

“Comparing the August figures year on year we see that, for CGA members, total proceeds from charity gaming are down just over 15% which has resulted in a reduction of grant money available to the community of approximately $4.4 million (22%). The tax take has also dropped 15% to $15.8 million.

“The trend data show that Department of Internal Affairs expectations about increasing average returns per gaming machine appear to be correct.

“There are reports from across the sector, and also from the clubs sector, that venues which have struggled to remain viable are either being closed or absorbed. As a result average numbers of machines per site are increasing and the average returns per machine to the community are also increasing.

“Significant capital expenditure over the three years for electronic monitoring and player interruption devices will put further pressure on trusts as they try to maintain high average levels of returns to the community,” concluded Francis Wevers.

ENDS

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