New South Wales Consolidated Acts

GAMING MACHINES ACT 2001 - SECT 44

44 Prohibition on displaying gambling-related signs

(1) A hotelier or club must not display or cause to be displayed any gambling-related sign:

(a) anywhere outside or in the vicinity of the hotel or the premises of the club, or

(b) anywhere inside the hotel or the premises of the club so that it can be seen from outside the hotel or the premises of the club.

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any gambling-related sign displayed or caused to be displayed at any time during the period of 6 months after the commencement of this section.

(3) A hotelier or club must not, after the commencement of this section, enter into or extend the duration of any contract or arrangement for displaying a gambling-related sign that is displayed in contravention of subsection (1).

Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.

(4) Any such contract or arrangement entered into or extended after the commencement of this section has no effect.

(5) Regardless of any other provision of this section, any contract or arrangement for displaying a gambling-related sign (being a sign that is displayed in contravention of subsection (1)) that was entered into before the commencement of this section ceases to have effect 6 months after that commencement.

(6) In this section:
"gambling-related sign" means any sign (whether consisting of words, symbols, pictures or any other thing):

(a) that draws attention to, or can reasonably be taken to draw attention to, the availability of approved gaming machines in a hotel or on the premises of a club, or

(b) that uses a term or expression frequently associated with gambling, or

(c) that relates to a gambling franchise or gambling business,

but does not include any sign relating to the conduct of a totalizator under the Totalizator Act 1997 or of a public lottery under the Public Lotteries Act 1996 , or any sign that is excluded from the operation of this section by the regulations.

(7) The provisions of this section are intended to operate as referred to in sections 12 (2) (e), 19 (5) and 20 (3) of the Business Names Registration Act 2011 of the Commonwealth.

Note: Section 12 (2) (e) of the Business Names Registration Act 2011 of the Commonwealth (the "Commonwealth Act") provides that the business names legislation referred to in that section is not intended to exclude or limit the concurrent operation of a law of a State that imposes obligations on an entity or class of entities that are in addition to obligations imposed under that Act.
Sections 19 (5) and 20 (3) of the Commonwealth Act also provide that an entity does not commit an offence under those sections concerning the inclusion or display of registered business names in written communications and at places of business if the inclusion, use or display of a business name in such a communication or at such a place would be contrary to a law of a State.