Al-anwar Newspaper English news in Australia
Facial recognition security cameras will be placed in the gaming rooms of all NSW pubs and clubs as part of a state-of-the-art system to help problem gamblers keep themselves away from poker machines.
The hi-tech upgrade to the state’s Multi-Venue Self-Exclusion scheme will help stop problem gamblers entering any gaming room across NSW without relying on staff recognising people who have asked to be prevented from playing the pokies.
The cameras already operate in almost 100 clubs across the state, and have been trialled in half a dozen pubs.
Under the program — which will be expanded across all clubs and hotels next year — anyone entering the pokies room will have their face scanned by the security cameras.
The image will then be compared with the faces of everyone signed up to the self-exclusion system.
If there is a match, hotel staff will be alerted, but privacy protections will be in place to ensure the data is only used for enforcing the self-exclusion system.
Pubs and clubs will not have access to the data, and venues will only be alerted if an excluded person tries to enter the gaming room.
The technology is seen as an example of industry-led reform to help protect problem gamblers without punishing pubs, clubs, and casual poker machine players.
Currently, someone who identifies themselves as a problem gambler and wants help can apply to be excluded from gaming rooms in certain pubs and clubs, but there is no centralised system.
People who put themselves on the self-exclusion register cannot ask to be taken off the list for at least six months.
Under the new technology, problem gamblers would automatically be identified by artificial intelligence.
In one case at Bankstown Sports, a problem gambler who asked to be banned from playing poker machines through the self-exclusion register was captured by facial recognition cameras trying to sign into a southwest Sydney club with a relative’s passport while hiding his identity with a mask.
The story was recounted to The Daily Telegraph as an example of how the hi-tech cameras can work to help people who have asked for help with their gambling to stay clean.
“Technology now allows us to accurately identify self-excluded problem gamblers and then stop them from gambling — this is a powerful tool and NSW hotels and clubs are committed to implementing it,” Australian Hotels Association NSW CEO John Whelan said.
“If you self-exclude from your local suburban club or pub, you will still be detected and prevented from gambling in any pub or club in the CBD or country and regional NSW.” ClubsNSW CEO Josh Landis said the industry can be “very proud” of using the technology to keep problem gamblers safe. “Those that have been proactive in choosing to self-exclude from the gaming rooms of clubs and pubs will now have extra support from our industry to make sure they maintain their resolve and stay out of harm’s way,” Mr Landis said.
