I lead for the Opposition on the Racing and Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2022, which will implement a number of harm-minimisation measures around gambling, along with reforming the Harness Racing Act and the Greyhound Racing Act. I acknowledge the presence of the Minister in the House. I thank the Minister and his staff for engaging with my office on the bill, and for their work in bringing the bill before the House. I now turn to the detail of the bill.

The changes relating to the Betting and Racing Act 1998 will implement the second tranche of the set of 10 standard minimum protections in the National Consumer Protection Framework. Those new protections will help put in place harm minimisation measures to protect gamblers, particularly online gamblers. New section 33H in division 2 will establish regulations around an advisory statement that must be part of any gambling advertisement that is published in print, such as in a newspaper, in a magazine or on a poster, but will also be flexible to allow for that to be extended to other forms of advertisement as prescribed by the regulations. As the Minister said in his second reading speech, the new advisory statements will streamline regulations and provide regulatory consistency on a national basis. That is good policy and has Labor's full support.

I now turn to new section 33JF in division 3, which outlines the new requirements for a licensed betting service provider to give an account holder a monthly betting account statement that details all activity in the past month. That statement cannot contain any betting advertisements or inducements. I note the Minister's comments on the need to protect consumers' privacy, and I am very pleased to see that additional privacy protections on top of those in existing privacy laws are included in the bill. It is critical both government and industry maintain the trust of citizens in protecting their personal data, especially when dealing with a person's banking information.

An important aspect of the bill is to establish the requirement for a licensed betting service provider to ensure that its employees undergo training. That training must be completed within a month after an individual commences employment, and refresher training within a year of the initial training. The Minister will have the power to publish a list of approved courses of responsible gambling training along with a list of approved persons to conduct that training. Under the bill, a licensed betting service provider must keep records of the training received by employees. Failure by an individual or licensed betting service provider to adhere to those training requirements will result in a penalty of 100 penalty units for an individual and 1,000 penalty units for a corporation.

I share the Minister's sentiments that harm minimisation and consumer protection must be at the core of the regulatory landscape. In particular, harm minimisation is very important to the community and I look forward to working further with the Minister on this issue. I take this opportunity to join the Minister in calling on the courts to ensure that breaching any of the requirements laid out in this legislation is not seen simply as a cost of doing business. When dealing with important harm minimisation measures, such as those that are laid out in the bill, it is critical to secure industry buy-in. As such, I have reached out to industry to consult on this legislation. I am pleased to see industry is widely supportive of the bill and is currently engaging with Liquor & Gaming NSW to resolve queries on two minor issues. I ask the Minister to continue those discussions to deliver the best possible result for the broader community.

I now turn to the changes to the Harness Racing Act 2009. The bill will change the process for appointments to Harness Racing NSW to increase ministerial discretion. Harness Racing NSW is responsible for the control, supervision and regulation of harness racing in New South Wales. The industry contributes over $450 million to the New South Wales economy and supports more than 3,000 jobs across the State. The bill seeks to implement recommendations from the 2015 review into harness racing to improve the industry's governance, integrity and accountability. The bill aligns the appointment process for Harness Racing NSW with the process in the Thoroughbred Racing Act 1996 by requiring the selection panel to consider existing experience and skill, by removing the previous restriction on Harness Racing Industry Consultation Group [HRICG] members being on the selection panel and by allowing the Minister to make an appointment from a list of suitable candidates. It also makes the Harness Racing NSW CEO a non-voting member of Harness Racing NSW.

The bill also strengthens the eligibility and conflict of interest requirements to the Harness Racing NSW board. This is a great integrity measure. It removes the provision allowing Harness Racing NSW board members to be part of decisions where they have an interest, which, as I have said and will say again, increases integrity. Harness Racing NSW requirements of board members are extended to include subcommittees. The bill also gives the Minister the authority to remove Harness Racing NSW board members for having conflicts of interest or a pecuniary interest. Again, it is similar to the Thoroughbred Racing Act. It prohibits the appointment of candidates who have been employed by a racing club or have been a member of a governing body of a racing club or eligible industry body in the past 12 months. In addition to this, the bill will amend the Harness Racing Act 2009 to introduce objectives along with a corresponding function for Harness Racing NSW to initiate, develop and implement policies relating to the welfare of harness racing horses. It also broadens the definition of racing official to include members of the HRICG.

In addition, it will establish new requirements for Harness Racing NSW to prepare, publish and report on an annual stakeholder engagement plan and publish its annual report for free as well as publishing its staff and board codes of conduct—similar to the requirements under the Greyhound Racing Act 2017. It also will enhance the Harness Racing NSW board selection process and governance arrangements by removing the prohibition on HRICG members being appointed as selection panel members and requiring selection panel members to consider the interests of the industry as a whole when making appointment recommendations to the Minister. As I have said, this will be critically important to improving transparency and integrity of the auditor by requiring the provision of a copy of an investigation report to the racing official under investigation, Harness Racing NSW and the Minister, regardless of the outcome.

In addition to that, annual summaries of investigation outcomes of Harness Racing NSW will be in the annual report. It will also clarify HRICG's membership and introduce administrative and governance arrangements to allow for effective functioning. The bill also seeks to improve transparency of the Integrity Auditor by providing a copy of an investigation report to the racing official under investigation as well as to Harness Racing NSW and the Minister. The bill also makes minor administrative changes to the greyhound Act to provide for the effective regulation of the greyhound racing industry, protect the interest of its stakeholders and promote the welfare of greyhounds. Again, I thank the Minister and his staff for the work that they have done to bring this bill before the House. Labor will be supporting this bill.