Facial recognition, cashless play in gaming reforms

Facial recognition, a ban on VIP experiences and a declining number of poker machines are some of the key gaming reforms proposed in a state that has nearly 90,000 pokies.

The NSW government's tranche of gambling reforms comes after federal Labor was heavily criticised for not going far enough to minimise gambling harms in its own overhaul.

The changes move closer toward cashless poker machines, a third-party exclusion scheme in venues and broader prohibitions on gambling advertisements on government and council property.

Gambling should be regulated, not pushed to the fringes, Gaming Minister David Harris said.

"People will always have gambling problems, but we have a responsibility to make it as safe as we possibly can and have the supports in place," he said on Tuesday.

A headline reform surrounding cashless gaming attracted immediate criticism from harm minimisation representatives.

Cashless gaming was a key recommendation of a state crime commission report which found about $95 billion in dirty cash was laundered through machines during the 2020/21 financial year.

However, Mr Harris confirmed the state was not planning on making account-based gaming mandatory any time soon.

Wesley Mission CEO Reverend Stu Cameron, who contributed to the government's gaming reform panel, said voluntary measures would not adequately help problem gamblers.

"Voluntary account-based gambling leaves the door wide open for people experiencing serious harm to continue gambling without the safeguards we know can and will make a difference," he said.

He also pushed the government to extend a mandatory poker machine shutdown from midnight to 10am.

Mr Harris also announced a third-party exclusion scheme would allow loved ones, venues and police to apply to ban patrons from certain hotels and clubs under a single state system.

Mandatory facial recognition expected by 2028 would support its implementation, and existing self-reporting systems, with the onus to provide and monitor cameras left with venues.

The announcement indicated the move would additionally support police investigations into criminal gaming and money laundering.