New South Wales Consolidated Acts

GAMING MACHINES ACT 2001 - SECT 77

77 Protection of sensitive areas of gaming machines

(1) It is an offence for a person (other than an authorised person) to do any of the following--

(a) break a seal securing a computer cabinet or gain access to anything within a computer cabinet,

(b) affix a seal to a computer cabinet,

(c) remove, replace or in any way affect or interfere with the operation of a computer cabinet or anything within a computer cabinet,

(d) break a seal protecting the integrity of the game program of an approved gaming machine,

(e) remove, or interfere with, any security device on an approved gaming machine,

(f) remove, or interfere with, the housing protecting the meters of an approved gaming machine,

(g) remove, disconnect or interfere with a meter of an approved gaming machine,

(h) interfere with information received, stored or transmitted electronically by an approved gaming machine,

(i) remove, or interfere with, any mark or seal affixed to an approved gaming machine to preserve the integrity of operation of the machine.

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units.

(2) An authorised person must, if the person breaks any seal in doing anything referred to in subsection (1), replace the seal.

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units.

(2A) If an authorised person, in doing anything referred to in subsection (1), breaks any seal on or in relation to an approved gaming machine kept in a hotel or on the premises of a club, the hotelier or club must ensure that the seal is replaced by the authorised person in accordance with subsection (2).

: Maximum penalty--10 penalty units.

(2B) The hotelier or club does not commit an offence under subsection (2A) if the authorised person has, before the gaming machine is operated for the purposes of gambling--

(a) certified, in the form approved by the Secretary, that the seal has been replaced by the person, and

(b) given a copy of the certificate to the hotelier or club.

(2C) If a copy of any such certificate is given to the hotelier or club, the hotelier or club must--

(a) keep the copy in the hotel or on the premises of the club, and

(b) if requested to do so by an inspector, produce the copy for inspection by the inspector.

: Maximum penalty--10 penalty units.

(2D) An authorised person must not make any statement in a certificate under subsection (2B) that the person knows is false or misleading.

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units.

(3) A person (including an authorised person) who removes, alters or otherwise interferes with the compliance plate on an approved gaming machine is guilty of an offence.

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units.

(4) Subsection (3) does not prevent a technician from doing any of the following things in relation to the compliance plate on an approved gaming machine (so long as the gaming machine is not operated at any time when the compliance plate is not attached to the machine)--

(a) moving the compliance plate to another part of the gaming machine,

(b) removing the compliance plate if it is damaged, and replacing it with a new compliance plate,

(c) destroying any such damaged compliance plate,

(d) temporarily removing the compliance plate in order to enable work to be done to the facade of the gaming machine,

(e) temporarily removing the compliance plate in order to update or correct the particulars shown on the plate.

(5) A person who authorises or permits another person to act in a way that is an offence under subsection (1) or (3) is also guilty of an offence.

: Maximum penalty--100 penalty units.

(6) In this section--

"authorised person" means an inspector or a technician.

"compliance plate" has the same meaning as in section 121.

"computer cabinet" means the sealable part of an approved gaming machine that contains the game program storage medium and the random access memory.