The Commission regulates and licenses Gaming Machines within the ACT in accordance with the Gaming Machine Act 2004, Gaming Machine Regulations 2004 and the Gambling and Racing Control (Code of Practice) Regulation 2002.
The Commission's principal objectives for gaming machine regulation and control are to ensure that:
- gaming machine operations are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Gaming Machine Act 2004 (the Act) and the Gaming Machine Regulations 2004 (the Regulations);
- gaming machine operations in the ACT are of a high standard, are conducted fairly and without corruption and reflect the standards expected by the community and the ACT Government;
- gaming machines and all associated technical equipment approved for installation in the ACT are of a high standard;
- ACT Government imposed taxes and fees are collected in an effective, accurate and cost efficient way; and
- as far as possible, the compliance effort required by licensees is minimised without compromising the effectiveness of the regulatory controls.
Under the Act a person may apply to the Commission for a licence to operate gaming machines. Restrictions apply in relation to class and number of gaming machines that can be operated under a licence by an eligible person.
On this page:
Application Forms for Gaming Machines
View the application forms and fees
National Standards
A new or modified gaming machine must be tested by a licensed testing facility before it can be approved by the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission. Testing facilities use approved technical standards to evaluate gaming equipment.
The Australian/New Zealand Gaming Machine National Standard, has been developed to provide guidance to manufacturers for the design of gaming machines, game software and related equipment, and to provide a testable standard to ensure that common regulatory requirements will be met.
The fundamental goal of the National Standard is to ensure that gaming machines, games and related equipment are designed to:
- be fair
- be secure
- be auditable
- minimise any potential for harm to players.
The current version of the National Standard can be found here:
| Document |
|---|
| Australian/New Zealand National Standard 11.1 (PDF 911KB) |
Policy Statements and Information
| Document |
|---|
| Policy Statement - Gaming Areas in Unenclosed Public Places (PDF 68KB) |
| List of Licensees (PDF 93KB) |
| Gaming Machine Warning Notice |
| Gaming Machine - Warning Notice - Template (PDF 169KB) (Word version 23KB) |
Changes to Legislation
2015 Amendments - Gaming Machine Act 2004
Changes to the Gaming Machine Act 2004 commenced on 31 August 2015 as part of the ACT Government's gaming machine reform package. The changes introduced an open market trading scheme for gaming machine authorisations, underpinned by a new licensing and authorisation framework and a phased reduction in the number of gaming machines operating in the Territory. For further information on the package please visit the website.
The following fact sheets provide information on aspects of these and other changes.