L&GNSW fines two venues after inspecting 51 for breach of pokies closure

Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) fined two venues and placed 70 more under review after inspecting 51 premises for compliance with the mandatory pokies shutdown between 04:00 and 10:00, the regulator said in its 12 October 2026 statement. The penalties affected the Crown Hotel in Camden and the East Cessnock Bowling Club; one venue received a formal warning and another was referred for disciplinary action. L&GNSW did not disclose the fine amounts.

Operational review and key figures on the pokies closure

L&GNSW inspected 51 venues across Sydney, the Hunter region and the North Coast and is keeping 70 additional venues under assessment as checks continue, the official 12 October 2026 bulletin states. Gaming machines in hotels and clubs in New South Wales (NSW) must remain switched off between 04:00 and 10:00 every day.

The operational outcome was: fines for the Crown Hotel (Camden) and East Cessnock Bowling Club; a formal warning for another venue; and the referral of a venue for disciplinary process. The statement adds that 32 venues received education and compliance support where issues were isolated, minor or due to exceptional circumstances.

How L&GNSW detects pokies-closure breaches

L&GNSW combined real-time data analysis, inspections and record checks in a campaign it describes as intelligence-led. Every gaming machine in NSW is connected to the Centralised Monitoring System (CMS), which records any activity during closure hours.

The regulator had already warned venues in November 2025 about the most common causes of breaches: staff cleaning and using remaining funds, cleaning operators activating machines, and venues staying open serving alcohol while machines continued to operate. Those causes appear in CMS records and are what L&GNSW has been monitoring.

"The vast majority of venues inspected have met their obligations, but significant or repeat breaches will attract tougher regulatory action," said Dimitri Argeres, Executive Director Regulatory Operations at L&GNSW.

Legal context: variation revocations and the regulatory framework

The six-hour closure period has existed since May 2003 under section 39 of the Gaming Machines Act 2001. However, the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) could grant variations for tourist zones, early-opening venues or establishments in financial distress.

A 2024 L&GNSW review identified 673 venues with a variation; many had not been previously reviewed. Following the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform’s Roadmap in November 2024, the Minister for Gaming and Racing, David Harris, ordered a review in December 2025. Between 24 and 25 March 2026 L&GNSW revoked 649 variations by delegation and ILGA revoked a further 10; up to that point 49 of 62 applications to retain a variation had been refused. The minister stated the variations affected around 20% of pubs and clubs with machines.

L&GNSW says a small number of venues have been approved to retain three-hour shutdowns, without specifying how many.

Relationship to other reforms and sector figures in NSW

The closure is part of a wider reform package announced by the government in August 2026. That package includes the creation of a state exclusion register with mandatory facial recognition from 2028, increased entitlement forfeiture, the end of VIP gaming programs and infrastructure for voluntary account-based gambling. Also, in 2023 the government reduced the load limit on new machines from A$5,000 to A$500.

According to the government statement of 25 August 2026, NSW has about 87,000 machines across some 2,100 venues, and players lost nearly A$9.3 billion in 2025, a figure calculated by Wesley Mission from L&GNSW data.

Comparing approaches: Victoria versus NSW and enforcement in practice

Victoria standardised the shutdown from 04:00 to 10:00 in hotels and clubs from 30 August 2024, with additional requirements such as mandatory card play, pre-commitment and a load limit of A$100, according to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC). Victoria offered automated machine deactivation through its monitoring provider and adopted a zero-tolerance policy.

NSW has chosen a proportionate line: sanctions for significant breaches and education where faults are minor. The automation available in Victoria aims to reduce the human errors L&GNSW has highlighted in its communications.

What remains unclear and next steps

The compliance campaign demonstrates that the centralised monitoring system makes compliance verification measurable: a machine either recorded activity between 04:00 and 10:00, or it did not. However, L&GNSW has not published fine amounts nor described the specific breaches in the recent cases, which limits operators’ ability to assess comparable risks.

The government committed to review the shutdown period itself in the August 2026 reform. Wesley Mission and some local councils have called for extending the start to midnight through to 10:00. Any change to the duration of the shutdown would increase the importance of the compliance apparatus now being tested.

Miguel Sandoval, Regulatory Correspondent, reported from Sydney.