The limit is part of the former Labor government’s reform of poker machine laws, which was intended to tackle problem gambling.
The government invited venues to apply for exemptions in December, after failing to repeal the new poker-machine regulations before the cash machine limits came into effect on 1 February.
Venues must show the ATM limit would cause “unreasonable inconvenience to the community”.
A spokeswoman for the social services minister, Kevin Andrews, said the national gambling regulator had received more than 3200 applications for exemption. “These are in the process of being evaluated,” she said.
The high number of applications was “evidence of the excessive compliance burden this law places on the ATM industry”, she added.
“The Coalition went to the election with a policy to cut this red tape burden, and plan on fulfilling this election commitment.”
It is not clear how many exemptions have been granted.
The ATM limits were recommended by the Productivity Commission in its 2010 report into Australia’s gambling industries. Australians lose more money gambling than any other people in the world.
The commission estimated that about 41% of revenue drawn from gambling machines comes from problem gamblers.
ATMs are already banned in gaming venues in Victoria, a measure that has seen the amount of money lost by problem gamblers fall by $90 a session.
A repeal of poker-machine reforms passed the lower house last year. The bill will probably be put to a vote in the Senate when it resumes on 3 March.
source : www.theguardian.com
