Confirmed today (3 March) by the VGCCC, the Peninsula Club in Dromana has been fined AU$7,000 (£3,456/€4,182/US$4,352). The Victoria venue must also pay VGCCC costs of $3,500.

The Peninsula Club was found to have allowed a child to enter its gambling area on two occasions on 10 June 2023. During the second visit, the child used a poker machine for approximately five minutes before staff intervened.

The VGCCC deemed this a double breach of the Victoria Gambling Regulation Act 2003. The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria agreed and issued the fine to venue owner Victorian Amateur Turf Club. However, no conviction was recorded in relation to the breaches.

Ruling on the case, magistrate Julian Ayres said the court took into account the venue’s self-reporting, lack of prior convictions, early plea and remediations implemented to reduce the chance of future offending.

Victoria regulator: A warning to all venues

Commenting on the case VGCCC CEO Annette Kimmitt said she welcomed the court ruling. She added that this should serve as a warning to all other gambling venues in Victoria.

“The onus is on you to ensure that children cannot and do not enter the gambling area or participate in any gambling activity, even if they’re with an adult,” Kimmitt said. “Equally, staff must be adequately trained and present in the gambling area to supervise while machines are in use.

“Research tells us that people who begin gambling at a young age are at greater risk of developing gambling problems as an adult. The rules exist to protect children from exposure to, and harm from, gambling.”

No let-up after other venues fined

The Peninsula Club case is the third VGCCC prosecution involving minors to be finalised in court this year.

Last week, fines were issued to two other Victoria venues, concluding a long-term separate investigation into how an underage, neurodivergent boy was able to gamble at locations across the state.

Correct Bet, operator of the Coburg TAB outlet, was fined $3,000, while Supreme Edinburgh, trading as the Duke of Edinburgh in Brunswick, was issued a $2,500 fine. Both venues pleaded guilty to underage gambling charges.

Both relate to the case of a boy gambling between May 2022 and October 2023. Then aged 17, he accessed and gambled on electronic betting terminals at 10 venues.

The VGCCC announced its first fines in relation to its underage gambling crackdown in September 2023, with updates issued about the case over the following 18 months. In total, almost half a million dollars in fines were handed out to a host of venues.