Australia’s NSW regulator eyeing ClubGRANTS pokies funding scheme exit

The Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA) in New South Wales is seeking to transfer administration of the ClubGRANTS scheme to the State Revenue chief commissioner, citing operational pressures and ongoing scrutiny.

This was revealed through documents obtained by ABC and statements from ILGA chair Caroline Lamb on Monday.

What are the ClubGRANTS?

Introduced in 1998, ClubGRANTS was designed to channel a share of gambling-linked profits from gaming clubs back into local communities. This includes health and welfare services as well as community development and sporting clubs. 

According to the Gaming Machine Tax Act 2001, a tax rebate of up to 1.85% of a club’s gaming machine profits is made available to any registered club that records profits of over $1 million (US$715,000) during a tax year. 

This is only possible if the club in question allocates at least 0.75% of prescribed profits over $1 million to community-focused activities and services. These profits make up two-thirds of the ClubGRANTS scheme funding. 

The final third derives from a further 0.4% of a club’s gaming machine profits over $1 million during a tax year. 

However, the scheme has faced ongoing scrutiny and criticism. Clubs can direct the funds towards upgrading their own facilities, and there is no mandated verification for how the grant recipients must deploy the money. 

The latest 2025 contribution report indicated that $127 million was awarded, with $53.3 million specifically allocated to sport-related organisations.

A yearly ‘burden’ for the ILGA

Caroline Lamb informed a recent review that the current responsibility of annually processing over 500 ClubGRANTS applications within a short time frame imposed significant constraints. 

Lamb described this task as “practically limiting the authority’s ability to most effectively monitor compliance” across the scheme. 

She suggested that the State Revenue chief commissioner’s office would be better equipped to manage what she characterised as a tax rebate programme.

ClubGRANTS are a ‘rort’ says Green MP

NSW government figures classify poker machines as the most harmful gambling format in the state, yet clubs continue to operate approximately 65,000 poker machines, benefiting substantially from tax rebates through the scheme.

Green MP Cate Faehrmann has criticised the arrangement, highlighting a conflict of interest where clubs reduce their tax liabilities while simultaneously cultivating community goodwill. 

She called the proposed changes “tinkering around the edges”. She questioned whether ClubGRANTS genuinely supports community projects, or functions as an indirect subsidy that lessens scrutiny of gaming revenue.

“ClubGRANTS is what the clubs rely upon to push back against any reform. The fact is they’re not generous, they’re a rort.” A “rort” is an antipodean term denoting a trick, scam or fraudulent practice.

Faehrmann also hit back at the NSW’s latest gaming machine data that highlighted a record loss of $2.38 billion by NSW residents on pokies during Q2 of 2026. 

The MP blamed the Minns Labor government’s reforms for the losses, claiming: “The gambling industry understands exactly what this government’s approach means and they love it: more reviews, more delays and more record losses.

“The question for Chris Minns is simple: how much more harm is he prepared to tolerate before he stands up to the gambling lobby?” she asked. 

The reforms, announced at the end of August, introduced a package of what it referred to as “evidence-based” legislation. 

As well as a statewide exclusion register, the package also set out to reduce the number of poker machines from the current figure of 87,000 across 2,100 clubs and hotels. 

The government said it aims to achieve this by increasing the forfeiture rate when gaming machine entitlements are traded from one in three to one in two. 

Review still under review

The NSW government initiated its first formal review of ClubGRANTS in over a decade after taking office in 2023. Although the final report was submitted in January 2025, it has yet to be released publicly. 

A government spokesperson stated that ministers are still considering the review’s findings, while updated guidance has been issued to clarify funding criteria for statewide services and tax obligations.