Clubs reform inquiry

The ACT Government will go to tender to hold an independent inquiry into the future of the ACT clubs industry, aimed at helping clubs diversify their revenues, reduce reliance on gambling, and become more sustainable.

The clubs sector considers the inquiry essential for its viability, but gambling reform advocates argue it is a missed opportunity to reduce gambling harm in the ACT.

ACT Labor last year committed to reduce the number of poker machines in community clubs to 1,000 by 2045, through a compulsory surrender of 500 machines every four years, supported by targeted assistance, gambling reform minister Dr Marisa Paterson MLA said. The number of machines has already dropped from nearly 5,000 in 2018, and is on track to fall to 3,500 by 1 July this year.

“While many clubs have made great progress in diversifying, there is still significant work to be done — this inquiry is aimed at understanding what that work should involve,” Dr Paterson said.

The inquiry aims to develop a 20-year roadmap for the transition. It will consider alternative revenue streams for clubs; changing regulations and tax settings; training workers; and community uses of club-owned land (affordable housing, aged care, supported accommodation). The report is due early next year.

“Clubs play an important role in fostering community connection,” Dr Paterson said. “We want to work to see a sustainable club sector in the ACT. That means working with them to transition to different, more sustainable business models.”

ClubsACT, the body representing the sector, welcomed the inquiry. CEO Craig Shannon said the industry requested it at last year’s election, when all major parties supported it. He hoped the inquiry would lead to an informed and bipartisan approach to developing the industry’s future over the next 20 years. Clubs are under financial pressure, due to cost and increased demand for services, and he was confident the inquiry would demonstrate to government why clubs are important and need support.

ClubsACT argues that not-for-profit clubs are “a fundamental foundation stone of the social cohesion of the ACT community”: they support sport and other organisations, and provided subsidised meals.

“Our ClubsACT members have a special bond and commitment to our community and have been a significant contributor to the development of Canberra for over 100 years,” Mr Shannon said. “We wish to protect, enhance and ensure this role into the long term.”

However, the Canberra Gambling Reform Alliance (CGRA) criticised the inquiry for focusing too heavily on clubs’ sustainability. Co-chair Kate Seselja contends that the clubs industry has never truly benefited the Canberra community, only created the perception of doing so.

“In reality, the growth of clubs facilities and infrastructure has been the direct result of financially exploiting its patrons and guests,” Ms Seselja said. “We are concerned that the Canberra community is being asked to ignore the economic and social costs of having mini-casinos continue to operate in our suburbs for decades to come.”

Ms Seselja argued that the inquiry fails to recognise the need to move away from gambling revenue, which “has caused misery to countless families, and wreaked incalculable economic and social harm”. She said the inquiry must acknowledge that reducing gambling harm would reduce clubs’ revenue, and plan accordingly.

CGRA believes the inquiry ignores the social benefits of stronger gambling safeguards, such as reducing domestic violence and mental illness. However, they were glad the inquiry would consider the risks posed by co-locating gambling venues near vulnerable community housing.

Interested parties can register as a supplier at www.tenders.act.gov.au and respond once the request for quotation is released.

Labor: Healthcare

Labor has pledged $24.3 million to improve healthcare access in the ACT by expanding bulk billing GP services and aged care respite facilities. The plan includes:

• Three new fully bulk billed GP practices, supported by a $10.5 million initiative to bring more GPs to Canberra.
• $3.8 million to help a private provider to take over and maintain bulk billing services at the Interchange Health Co-op in Tuggeranong.
• The first metropolitan trial of the Single Employer Model rural training initiative to attract and train more GPs in Canberra.
• $10 million for new aged care respite beds in the ACT, replacing those lost due to the closure of Burrangiri.

Labor said the plan will address Canberra’s shortage of GPs (fewer than other capital cities) and bulk billing rate (lower than the national average). Senator Katy Gallagher said the centres would likely be in areas with GP shortages like Gungahlin, Tuggeranong, and Weston Creek. Immediately after the election, Labor would fund the Primary Health Network to begin. Doctors could come from overseas.

“Canberrans expect and deserve the same standard of healthcare as any other Australian, and that’s exactly what a re-elected Albanese Labor Government will deliver through this important local GP funding package,” Senator Gallagher said.

Labor said the pledge complements national healthcare initiatives, including a new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Woden; more funding to train doctors; and the largest investment in Medicare ($8.5 billion). Senator Gallagher said this would give Canberrans “greater access to bulk billing primary healthcare and add to the number of doctors”.

Senator David Pocock said he had pushed the federal government throughout its term to improve access to bulk billing in Canberra. He welcomed the $14.3 million to keep the Interchange open and support three additional bulk billing clinics as “a step forward”. However, he said GPs had told him Labor’s investment would not meet the target of nine in 10 free visits in the ACT. He also questioned how Labor would deliver the 25 bulk-billed clinics it had promised, since his survey of 82 practices suggested only two would continue to bulk-bill — the same two that currently do.

Senator Pocock called for changes to the ACT’s Modified Monash Model classification; more support for longer GP consultations; and a workforce retention strategy. He welcomed additional funding for respite care, saying it would help to maintain the current number of beds, but added it would not prevent the closure of the Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre. He has written to both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader seeking funding to keep Burrangiri open.

Greens candidate Isabel Mudford blamed successive Labor and Liberal governments for decades of underinvestment in public healthcare, which she thought had led to Canberra’s low bulk billing rates and high out-of-pocket costs. She said the Greens had set the standard for healthcare policy in this election, and called for long-term reform: expanding Medicare to include dental care and mental health services, training more GPs, and building bulk-billing multidisciplinary clinics nationwide.

“Access to world-class, free public healthcare is a right, not a privilege,” Ms Mudford said. “One-off investments and bandaid solutions to rescue or replace closed clinics won’t deliver a healthcare system or aged care services with longevity.”

HEART Party candidates Mary-Jane Liddicoat and Elise Searson Prakaash said that while the proposed funding addressed immediate healthcare infrastructure needs, they urged a broader, more inclusive approach that aligned with their commitment to individual health autonomy, transparency and accountability, and the integration of natural therapies.

“Sustainable health outcomes are best achieved when individuals are empowered to make informed choices in a transparent and accountable system.”

Sustainable Australia Party Senate candidate James Holgate also argued that healthcare had deteriorated under successive federal governments, due in part to rapid population growth without infrastructure. He said that Australia must address the root causes of the healthcare crisis.

“The ACT community deserves an innovative and universal health system, including better access to bulk billing GPs,” Mr Holgate said. “We need to deal with the root causes of Australia’s growing healthcare problems, including taking action to slow population growth while expanding investment in medical and healthcare training. We need sustainable solutions to our growing healthcare crises.”