The Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) has been hit with a fine of AU$177,500 (US$119,000) after pleading guilty to 24 charges related to underage gambling and inadequate supervision of electronic betting terminals.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) brought these charges against ALH for incidents occurring between September 2022 and October 2023 across multiple venues.

The most serious violations involved allowing a teenager to gamble on several occasions at five different ALH venues. Additionally, an incident at the Westside Taverner where an eight-year-old child entered a poker machine area, albeit accompanied by an adult, contributed to the charges.

Commenting on the charges, VGCCC CEO Annette Kimmitt stated: “It is well established that minors who gamble are more likely to experience severe harm from gambling as adults. All venues therefore have a legal and social obligation to protect children from that risk.

“We have zero tolerance for operators that flout the law, especially when children are involved. While I commend the staff at Westside Taverner for intervening when they became aware there was a minor in the poker machine area, it is never acceptable for a child to gain access to a venue’s gambling area.”

The fines were broken down as AU$175,000 for the teenager's case, AU$2,500 for the child incident and AU$45,000 in costs to be paid to the VGCCC.

This prosecution is part of a broader crackdown by the VGCCC on underage gambling violations. Several other venues have also faced fines ranging from AU$5,220 to AU$370,417 for similar offences.

Additionally, the VGCCC fined Tabcorp AU$4.6m for breaching the state's gambling code earlier this year.

VGCCC chair Fran Thorn said Tabcorp's breaches occurred between 2020 and 2023 and “reflected ‘systemic’ failures which included ‘significant harm to a customer.'”