Yowani Country Club in Lyneham has become a ‘pokie-free’ venue through the ACT Government’s Gaming Machine Authorisation Surrender Incentive.
ACT Minister for Gaming Shane Rattenbury said, “We want to ensure clubs continue to support the community, while reducing their financial reliance on revenue from gambling activities due to the harm it causes to individuals, families and the broader community.
“Gaming machine-free venues give club patrons a choice – they can still go to the club without having to put up with pokies.
“That is why the ACT Government is encouraging and supporting community clubs to diversify their income sources away from gaming machines and Yowani is great example of the success of this approach.”
The ACT Government re-established the Gaming Machine Authorisation Surrender Incentive in March 2022 and invested $1.74 million into the scheme.
The scheme offered a bonus payment of $5,000 per licence if a club retired all of their pokie licences.
By the end of 2022, 70 authorisations had been surrendered under the scheme, including 21 from Yowani Country Club, making the club ‘pokie-free’.
Yowani Country Club will redevelop the eastern edge of its site, including the current clubhouse and carpark, for residential, commercial, and guest accommodation. A new expanded clubhouse will also support increased and new revenue streams from hospitality, venue and event hire, and a sports club bar and facilities.
“Providing a financial incentive to clubs and hotels to reduce the number of poker machines they operate, the program supports ACT community clubs such as Yowani to pursue new revenue streams which meet an emerging community need, without exposure to gaming machines,” Minister Rattenbury said.
“Since August 2018, the ACT has seen a reduction in just over 1,153 poker machines in the ACT, which is a reduction of 23 per cent in the last four years. With 3,793 electronic gaming machine authorisations in the ACT, we are targeting a further reduction in the number of gaming machine authorisations to 3,500 by 1 July 2025.
“The government will continue to work with community clubs to reduce their reliance on gambling revenue and I want to acknowledge the achievement of Yowani Country Club in becoming ‘pokie free’.”
Read more stories like this:
- Clubs receive government funds to reduce reliance on pokies (13 April, 2021)
- Canberra clubs weaning off pokies with grant funding (23 February, 2022)
- Canberra Southern Cross Club removes 30 pokies (23 June, 2022)
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