Gaming and Betting (Registered Clubs) Amendment Act 1980 (NSW)

G A M I N G A N D BETTING (REGISTERED CLUBS)

A M E N D M E N T A C T , 1980 , N o . 26

ANNO VICESIMO NONO

ELIZABETHS II BEGINS

Act N o . 26 , 1980 .

An Act to amend the Gaming and Betting Act, 1912, with respect to the use or operation of poker machines on club premises by persons under the age of 18 years, and for other purposes. [Assented to, 16th April, 1980.]

BE it enacted by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows :—

1 . This Act may be cited as the "Gaming and Betting

(Registered Clubs) Amendment Act, 1980".

2.      The Gaming and Betting Act, 1912, is amended—

(a) by inserting in section 50G after the definition of "Licensing district" the following definition : —

"Poker machine area" means any portion of the premises of a registered club in which poker machines are located and which is not physically separated from other portions of the premises of the club.

(b) (i) by omitting from section 50QA the words "fifty
dollars" and by inserting instead the matter "$200";

(ii)   by inserting at the end of section 50QA the following subsections :—

(2) A person under 18 years of age who enters
or is in a poker machine area on club premises

shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding $200. (3) It is a sufficient defence to a prosecution for

an offence arising under subsection (1) or (2) if

the defendant proves that he was an apprentice, within the meaning of the Apprentices Act, 1969. or a probationer, within the meaning of that Act. when the offence was committed and that he used or operated poker machines, or entered or was in a poker machine area, as the case may be, for the purpose only of his receiving trade training as such an apprentice or probationer.

(c) by inserting after section 50QA the following sections :—

50QAA. (1) If a person under the age of 18 years is in any poker machine area of a registered club and is not forthwith removed from that area, the secretary of the club is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $500.

(2) If a person under the age of 18 years is on the premises of a registered club as a guest of a member of the club and is in any poker machine area of the club, the member is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $500.

(3) It is a sufficient defence to a prosecution of a person for an offence under subsection (1) or (2) if the defendant proves that the person under the age of 18 years was of or above the age of 14 years and that he believed on reasonable grounds that the person under the age of 18 years was of or above the age of 18 years.

(4) For the purposes of, but without limit­ ing, subsection (3 ) , the defendant shall be deemed to have had reasonable grounds for the belief referred to in that subsection if he proves that—

(a) the person under 18 years of age produced to him, duly signed—

(i) a driver's licence issued under the

Motor Traffic Act, 1909;

(ii)   a notice given under the regulations made under section 35 (1A) of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elec­ tions Act, 1912; or

(iii)   a certificate issued in accordance with the regulations made under this Act under which the person to whom the certificate is issued is required to authenticate it by signing it;

(b)	the person under 18 years of age made his signature in the premises of the registered club in the presence of the secretary or an employee of the club;
(c)	the person in whose presence the signature was made compared it with the signature appear­ ing on the driver's licence, the notice or the certificate referred to in paragraph ( a ) , being the signature of the person to whom it purported to have been issued; and
(d)	the person in whose presence the signature was made did not believe and had no reasonable grounds for believing that the person under 18 years of age—

(i)   was not the person referred to in the driver's licence, the notice or the certificate so referred to; or

(ii) was under 18 years of age.

50QAB. If there is not kept continuously displayed in a conspicuous place in every poker machine area in the premises of a registered club a notice, complying with the requirements, if any, prescribed for the purposes of this section and containing such particulars as may be so prescribed with respect to the exclusion from the area of persons under the age of 18 years, the secretary of the club is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $500.