The Independent Member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, has ruled out the use of fingerprints or other biometric data in the national mandatory pre-commitment system on poker machines to start in 2014.
Mr Wilkie, the Minister for Families, Housing, Community and Indigenous Affairs, Jenny Macklin, and the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, made a joint commitment today that the mandatory pre-commitment system will be a card-based system that will not use biometric technology.
“Some members of the community are not comfortable with the use of fingerprints or other biometric data,’’ Mr Wilkie said.
“But I am satisfied that other technologies can enable a mandatory pre-commitment system to have a high level of integrity.
“ATM cards and passports don’t require biometrics and I’m satisfied that we can come up with a robust, workable and affordable pre-commitment system that empowers people to control how much they lose on poker machines and reduces problem gambling without breaching people’s privacy or requiring fingerprints.’’
Mr Wilkie’s written agreement with the Prime Minister includes a national mandatory pre-commitment scheme, as recommended by the Productivity Commission which last year concluded it was a “strong, practicable and ultimately cost-effective option for harm minimisation’’, to start in 2014.
“I have repeatedly said I am open minded about how the system will work,’’ Mr Wilkie said.
Mr Wilkie said he was mindful of the needs of smaller venues and communities and is looking at options regarding their needs, in particular their ATM withdrawal limit and implementation arrangements of a pre-commitment system.
Mr Wilkie made the announcement in his capacity as the Independent Member for Denison, not as the chair of the Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform.
The Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform is inquiring on the design and implementation of a best-practice full pre-commitments scheme that is uniform across all States and Territories and machines – consistent with the recommendations and findings of the Productivity Commission
.
It has received more than 100 submissions and held hearings in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart.
Mr Wilkie said the committee would report to Federal Parliament in April.
