THE ACT Government is considering a scheme that would allow Canberra clubs to trade poker machines.

Since January, clubs with more than one venue have been able to transfer poker machines within their club network.

But the Government has released a discussion paper proposing that machines be transferred between different clubs, with a percentage of poker machine licences would need to be surrendered with each transaction.

ACT Minister for Gaming and Racing Joy Burch says the trading scheme would need to be fair, transparent and open to all ACT clubs, and would reduce the number of gaming machines in the Territory.

“The scheme should consider social impacts and not increase the concentration of gaming machines in the Territory. It should enhance the long term viability of clubs and support greater diversity of revenue sources where possible,” Ms Burch says.

Ms Burch says the clubs industry had called for a trading scheme to give them greater flexibility in their business models, and several other Australian jurisdictions already have similar schemes in place including NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia.

“The discussion paper is an opportunity for industry and other interested stakeholders to contribute to the design of a scheme, and it includes three options for how a scheme could operate,” she says.

“We have looked to the interstate trading schemes already in place to devise possible models for the ACT, and I urge stakeholders to provide feedback on this discussion paper.”