ID checks, spending limits and cashless pokies: ACT Government introduces major gambling bill

Key points

• Every poker machine player in Canberra will need an identity-verified account and a spending limit before gambling, under a bill introduced to the ACT Legislative Assembly. Gaming Reform Minister Marisa Paterson introduced the Gaming Machine (Harm Prevention and Reduction) Amendment Bill 2026, which also restricts cash withdrawals and sets a timetable to cut poker machine authorisations to no more than 1000 by 2045.
• The system will link to the self-exclusion register, and ATMs will be banned from venues with poker machines.
• Reduced operating hours are scheduled to begin on 1 July 2027.