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The Victorian Government decided to separate
the ownership of EGMs from the ownership
of gaming venues by creating two distinct gaming
operators. Tattersalls and TABCORP are
the two entities authorised to supply gaming
machines to hotels and clubs. In Victoria the
regulatory system has facilitated probity
checking, with a view to engendering public
confidence. Machines have been introduced into
venues in an orderly fashion. The regime,
as it stands, also enables central monitoring of
gaming transactions and revenue flows, and
has expedited innovation, such as, for instance,
the linking of jackpots. Queensland has
awarded eight gaming operator licences and is
seeking to replicate aspects of the Victorian
system. New South Wales has granted the TAB an
exclusive licence to operate a centralised
monitoring system. It is scheduled to be
commissioned on 1 January 2001.
The benefits of Victoria’s EGM duopoly are
claimed to be:
the regulator has extensive knowledge of the
gaming operators because both are well
established in the business. This makes it
easier to ensure there is integrity and
rectitude
in all transactions;
the licence renewal process (effectively a form
of franchise) keeps the two operators
focussed on being successful long-term players;
and
economies of scale are readily attained in the
purchase, maintenance and operation of
EGMs. For the regulator, there are also network
scale economies in supervision and
monitoring.
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