Several venues in Dubbo and the region were handed a total of $20,305 in fines at the weekend after undercover officers performed a number of covert audits in line with Derby Day festivities.

In a statement yesterday, the Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR) said licensees in alcohol response taskforce (ART) areas were not afforded warnings due to the problems that have been identified.

One Dubbo venue was fined $10,450 for 10 offences, with its licensee yesterday saying some of the fines would be appealed.

“One of our fines was because the lights on three poker machines were visible from somewhere in the street,” he said.

“We have put in a wall that was designed to block the view from the street thinking that would make the gaming room compliant and hopefully we can sort that one out.”

Among the other fines handed out were one for an automatic teller machine (ATM) not having a G-Line notice as well as two for intoxication of patrons.

While some of the breaches seem trivial in nature, the OLGR statement revealed why the matters are taken so seriously.

“Holding a liquor licence is a great responsibility,” the statement said. “While some breaches may seem technical in nature, they are good indicators of how a licensed venue is being operated.

“There are also important measures in place to reduce problem gambling.”

Another venue in Dubbo copped three fines from the undercover officers, with one being for intoxication, one for not having an ‘out of order’ sign on a broken poker machine and another for not having a visible ‘spade’ symbol on the gamble option of a poker machine.

The licensee at this particular hotel said he was “filthy about it on the night” but would cop the fines on the chin.

“It’s the worst thing in the world for us to get fined but our breaches were really only minor,” he said.

“We expect a police presence to be in force, particularly on nights like Derby Day, but I think overall we were very compliant.

“We were removing intoxicated patrons, we had no violence on the premises and nobody was arrested so it was a really good night when you consider the volume of people around.

“The thing we have to do is learn from what happened on the weekend and hope next time we have an audit done we will be right.”

ben.walker@ruralpress.com