After years of loopholes, 4am pokies shutdown will finally be enforced. Kind of

Pubs and clubs in New South Wales will lose their permission to run pokie machines past four in the morning, as the NSW Gaming Minister moves to scrap decade-old loopholes.

What happened: Since the introduction of the Gaming Machines Act in 2001, it has been mandatory for clubs and pubs in NSW to shut down their pokies for a six-hour period between 4am and 10am. However, almost 700 venues state-wide have been circumventing that rule due to exemptions granted by the government.

• Late night venues across the North Shore, such as Chatswood’s Orchard Hotel and the Hornsby Railway Hotel have been allowed to run their poker machines until 6am under these exemptions.

• Exemptions can include if a venue operates in an area frequented by tourists, or if they are experiencing financial hardship.

Getting ahead of criticism: The move from the Minns Government mirrors reforms set out in a bill put forward earlier this year by Greens MP Cate Faehrmann.

The proposed reforms — which included ending exemptions and moving the mandatory shutdown time for pokies to midnight — received support from Independent MPs, members of the Coalition, and gambling harm advocacy groups such as Wesley Mission.

The repeal of exemptions is slated to take effect from March 31, 2026.

The catch: The reform is not absolute. The Gaming Minister has stated venues that “believe they have a strong case” to maintain their exemption will have the opportunity to put an argument to the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority. 

State Labor says those who seek exemptions will need to meet “new tougher guidelines”, however it is yet to lay out what these guidelines will look like.

While supportive of the government’s decision, Faehrmann has also called this change “the absolute bare minimum”.

“We can’t keep tinkering around the edges,” she said in a press release on Monday. “If the Premier is serious about reducing gambling harm, this has to be the beginning, not the end.”

Pokie losses: Other areas of the state suffer far worse losses than theNorth Shore, however the amount lost on pokies is significant. In the Hornsby, Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby LGAs, clubs and pubs made a net profit of $42 million between March and June this year.

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