Hotel Ordered to Ditch External Cartoon Signs Resembling Poker Machine Imagery

In May 2023, the NSW Government mandated that all venues must remove, alter or cover all external gambling-related signs, including fixed unilluminated awning signs and digital displays. Gambling-related signs are those that draw attention to the availability of approved gaming machines at hotels or clubs. 

In September 2023, after receiving complaints from three members of the public, a Liquor & Gaming NSW (L&GNSW) inspector visited the Royal Hotel in Granville. The inspector found signage featuring a Chinese man with dumplings was “materially extremely similar” to a cartoon of a man with money bags from the poker machine game “Choy’s Kingdom”. 

The hotel applied to the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority (ILGA) to review the decision based on several factors, including that:

• The restaurant is not owned by the hotel and is independently owned;
• There has been no evidence provided that demonstrates an actual risk;
• The matter has not been sufficiently investigated; and
• The costs associated with replacing the signage would be considerable.

ILGA rejected the hotel’s application and has ordered the removal of the Mr Choy cartoons from its takeaway menus, external signage, social media pages and website. 

ILGA Chair Caroline Lamb stated the images were too similar and could “increase the risk of gambling-related harm occurring”. 

Clubs are reminded that L&GNSW has a zero-tolerance approach to any external gambling-related signage and that the maximum penalty for clubs that fail to remove signage is $11,000 per offence. 

If you have any questions, please contact ClubASSIST on 1300 730 001 or at [email protected].