Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The Commission,
and any member or officer of the Commission as though he were an authorised
officer concerned under the Gaming and Wagering Commission Act 1987 with
the supervision of permitted gaming and the enforcement of that Act, has and
may exercise in relation to —
(a) any
party to, or any manager or other person, trust, premises or property the
subject of, a casino complex agreement;
(b) any
thing that the Commission or that member or officer has reasonable cause to
believe relates to, or may be likely to affect, a person or matter referred to
in paragraph (a); and
(c) the
organization, management, operation and use of a casino complex including the
gaming operations and related accounting, audit and security procedures in,
and amenities or facilities ancillary to, the casino comprised in the casino
complex,
like powers to those
conferred on the Commission or an authorised officer, as the case may be,
under the Gaming and Wagering Commission Act 1987 in relation to gaming
or betting under that Act, and persons, premises or things relating to gaming
or betting.
(2) Without prejudice
to the generality of subsection (1), the Commission or a member, or an
officer of the Commission, may in particular —
(a) by
notice in writing or, if the urgent or otherwise special nature of the
circumstances makes it necessary, by notice given orally, require any casino
key employee or casino employee, or any other person associated with
operations in the casino complex or its management or who has in his
possession or under his control any gaming equipment, instruments of gaming,
or books related to the operation of a casino complex or otherwise relevant to
the administration of this Act to —
(i)
produce for inspection on behalf of the Commission any
such gaming equipment, instruments of gaming or books; and
(ii)
attend before the Commission, or that officer, at a
specified time and place and then and there to answer any questions, or
provide information, with respect to any such gaming equipment or instruments
of gaming, any such books or any entries therein, or operations in or in
relation to the casino complex or gaming;
(b)
enter, and remain in, any part of a casino complex, scrutinize and inquire
into any gaming or betting conducted there, and inspect, or require to be
examined and tested on behalf of the Commission, any gaming equipment,
instruments of gaming, or books, and take notes in relation thereto or copies
of or extracts from any such books, require the withdrawal from use of
unsatisfactory gaming equipment or the destruction of unsatisfactory
instruments of gaming, and, where he deems it necessary, search for, seize and
retain potential evidence for production in possible subsequent proceedings in
accordance with section 31 of the Gaming and Wagering Commission
Act 1987 ;
(c)
receive, investigate and deal with complaints from casino patrons with respect
to any aspect of the operations of a casino, and advise any patron of the
result of the complaint; and
(d)
exercise any other prescribed function,
and a requirement made
pursuant to this section shall for the purposes of the
Gaming and Wagering Commission Act 1987 be deemed to be a requirement of
the Commission and shall be enforceable as though made in relation to
permitted gaming.
(3) Where a member of
the Police Force or other person acts in aid of an officer authorised under
subsection (2) and at the request of that officer, he is deemed whilst so
acting also to have, and to be authorised to exercise, the powers conferred by
subsection (2).
(4) Where the
Commission thinks fit, the Commission may report to the Minister and make
recommendations as to any action that the Commission considers should be taken
under section 21B.
(5) Where it appears
to the Minister that it is in the public interest that an inquiry be carried
out into the affairs, or into particular affairs, of a casino or related
matters the Minister may, in writing, direct the Commission to arrange the
inquiry and a report on the findings of the inquiry.
(6) Related matters
that may be made the subject of an inquiry include —
(a)
gaming or betting, whether in the casino or elsewhere;
(b)
suspected corruption;
(c) the
persons concerned in the management or operation of the casino complex, and
their relationship with other persons, or a class of persons which includes
other persons, who, in the opinion of the Minister, are associated with them
or could affect or be in a position to exercise direct or indirect control
over the carrying out of any function in, or in relation to, the casino; and
(d)
whether or not it is in the public interest that a casino licence, or a casino
complex agreement, remain in force.
(7) A direction given
under subsection (5) —
(a)
shall specify the affairs or matters to be the subject of the inquiry; and
(b) may
require the inquiry to be carried out by a person appointed by the Minister.
(8) Where the
Commission is directed under subsection (5) to arrange for an inquiry,
the Commission shall cause to be published in the Gazette a
notice —
(a)
specifying the affairs or matters concerned; and
(b)
stating the name of the person carrying out the inquiry.
(9) For the purposes
of an inquiry carried out at the direction of the Minister under
subsection (5), the person carrying out the inquiry has the powers of a
Royal Commission and the chairman of a Royal Commission, whether under the
Royal Commissions Act 1968 or otherwise, and the provisions of that Act
have effect as if they were enacted in this Act with any necessary changes and
in terms made applicable to the inquiry by that person.
[Section 21A inserted by No. 74 of 1987
s. 23; amended by No. 73 of 1994 s. 4; No. 24 of 1998
s. 16; No. 35 of 2003 s. 171(3).]