Mike Sarquis
Executive Director, OLGR
p: 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
Digital ID alert
The Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming has determined that licensees can now accept digital versions of approved IDs as acceptable evidence of age under the Liquor Act, including for the purposes of ID scanning.
There are currently five forms of ID acceptable in licensed venues and a number of these now come in a digital version. These include the Australia Post Keypass identity card (Digital iD™) and the South Australian driver’s licence available through the MySA Gov app. The NSW Government has also announced that digital licences will be available across NSW by end 2019.
Checking ID
You are still required to check that the digital IDs are valid as you would with a hard copy ID.
When checking, staff should:
- compare the photo with the patron presenting the ID.
- check the date of birth confirms the patron is over 18 years (some forms of ID can be issued to minors), and
- identify the security features of each type of ID and use the appropriate verification techniques.
While apps can be downloaded to verify digital IDs, those currently in use have in-built security features to verify the ID.
A ‘shake-to-animate’ feature on the digital South Australian drivers licence will animate the screen and display the time and date to show that the licence is not a screenshot.
The Australia Post Keypass has an animation feature when showing the Digital ID that can be triggered by tapping or shaking the phone, as well as a QR code that refreshes every five seconds.
For more information on each digital ID and how they work, click on the links below:
- SA driver licence: my.sa.gov.au/faq.html.
- Australia Post Keypass: www.digitalid.com.au/accept
Suspected false IDs
NOTE: You must not confiscate the phone or device even if it displays a digital ID that you have concerns about. The Liquor Act doesn’t require, or allow, a licensee to do so. Search for ‘Confiscating ID’ at
www.business.qld.gov.au/liquor-gaming to find out more.
If you are presented with a digital ID that you suspect is fake or doesn’t belong to the person presenting it, licensees are encouraged to complete and submit a report for action by OGLR. For this purpose, the form previously used for reporting confiscation of physical ID has been updated to also provide for reporting of issues with digital ID.
Digital ID and ID scanners
We are currently working with the ID Scanner Approved Operators to develop a method by which ID scanners can accept digital IDs.
In the short term, if a patron presents a digital ID, you can either request a hard copy ID or enter the details into the ID scanner manually. We will notify you as further information becomes available.
To view the five forms of ID acceptable in licensed venues, and for more information, search ‘Digital ID’ at
www.business.qld.gov.au/liquor-gaming.
Reminder on requirements surrounding excluded persons
I’d like to remind all licensees and their staff to be aware of the legislative requirements and obligations regarding excluded persons.
A person may be excluded from the whole of a venue, or just a particular area of the venue where gambling services are provided, such as a gaming machine area. An exclusion may also prohibit a person from participating in keno or wagering at a venue.
Licensees and staff must take reasonable steps to identify excluded persons, and, depending on the exclusion, prevent them from entering the relevant gaming area or participating in that gaming activity at their venues.
It is important that appropriate checking mechanisms are in place when making gaming machine payouts to ensure the patron receiving the payment is not an excluded person. Similarly, it’s important such mechanisms are in place when opening a cashless gaming or rewards account for a person.
In line with the Rules Ancillary to Gaming, a gaming machine payout must be refused to any person who has contravened the Act, which includes breaching an exclusion order or direction. It is an offence to make a payment for winnings on a gaming machine to an excluded person.
Please review your current strategies and practices to ensure they comply with the legislative requirements, and also ensure employees are fully aware of these and your own policies surrounding gambling-related exclusions.
For more information, search for ‘Exclusion compliance for gambling providers’ from OLGR’s website at
www.business.qld.gov.au/liquor-gaming
Managing gaming machine ‘reservations’
Clubs that offer gaming machines should ensure that they, and their staff are clear on how gaming machines can be reserved when patrons wish to leave them temporarily and return to keep playing the same machine.
If this process is not handled properly, there is potential for conflict to develop between patrons.
The Rules Ancillary to Gaming allow for gaming machines to be reserved for a maximum of three minutes.
Basically, there are three ways gaming machines can be reserved by a patron at your venue:
- Using the machine’s ‘Reserve’ button is the preferred option to reserve a gaming machine as this functionality restricts the reservation to three minutes.
- If your venue uses plastic, in-house ‘Reserve’ signs, make sure you comply with the Rules Ancillary to Gaming. Requests by patrons to remove the signs should be agreed to when possible after three minutes, even if transferring credits/money off the gaming machine is required. If you find it difficult to comply with the Rules Ancillary to Gaming regarding these signs you should stop using them.
- When membership cards are used in conjunction with site software (e.g. EZY Break or Break Away) the attendant alerts, received after three minutes of a machine being reserved, should be actioned promptly.
Did you know?
It is illegal to own a decommissioned gaming machine in Queensland.
Under the Gaming Machine Act 1991, it is an offence to sell or, be in possession of a gaming machine - whether it be an old ‘one arm’ bandit poker machine or an electronic gaming machine.
If you are found contravening these particular provisions of the Act, significant penalties may be imposed by the Court. The Act requires that gaming machines must be disposed of by sale (to another licensed gaming site) or destroyed, within one month of:
- a decrease in the approved number of gaming machines.
- cessation of gaming at an additional club premises, or
- the surrender of a gaming machine licence.