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General
This form is to be completed on the basis of the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003 of the activities and purposes that constitute community purposes made pursuant to section 136AB of the Gaming Machine Control Act 1991 and its successor, section 3.6.9 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003.
Note that in completing this statement, only expenditure from gaming revenue meets the requirements of sections 3.6.8(2) and 3.6.9 of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003. Activities funded by revenue from other sources do not constitute community benefits for the purposes of sections 3.6.8(2) and 3.6.9 the Gambling Regulation Act 2003. Venue operators can adopt any practical or sensible method of apportionment of expenditure against gaming revenue, as long as the method that they choose enables them to meet the “true and fair” requirement in the Act. It is therefore intended that pro rata apportionment of expenditure against revenue will be accepted as a method of apportionment.
In the event of any uncertainty about whether a particular activity meets or does not meet the requirements of a community benefit for the purposes of the Community Benefit Statement, the test to be applied is whether the dominant purpose of the activity in question meets the community purposes definition contained in the Minister’s Determination.
The information in this form is to be provided for the latest financial year ending 30 June.
Venue operators or their accounting advisers should direct any questions in relation to completing this form to the Office of Gambling Regulation.
Note 1. Employment expenses include all on-costs except for payroll tax and fringe benefits tax. Training costs for staff, including gaming room staff, are also treated as employment expenses.
Where a venue operator has entered into a management contract that requires the contracted manager to employ and direct staff, the employment expenses of these staff can be included on the same basis as staff employed directly by the venue operator.
Note 2. Venue operators can only claim direct donations from gaming revenue as community benefits. Donations of vouchers are treated as donations of funds. Where venue operators conduct fundraising activities on behalf of charities or other community groups, they can only claim the labour component as a community activity.
Venue operators should categorise donations into the various classes of community purposes set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, that is, the promotion of art, culture, science, religion, education, charity, sporting or recreational purposes. The recipients do not need to be identified and in particular, individual recipients are not to be identified for privacy reasons.
Note 3. Venue operators may claim sponsorships paid from gaming revenue as community benefits.
Venue operators should categorise sponsorships into the various classes of community purposes set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, that is, the promotion of art, culture, science, religion, education, charity, sporting or recreational purposes. The recipients do not need to be identified and in particular, individual recipients are not to be identified for privacy reasons.
Note 4. The amount claimable as a community benefit for the gift of new goods is the amount paid from gaming revenue by the venue operator, including GST. The amount claimable for gifts of used or second-hand goods is the market value of the goods.
Venue operators should categorise gifts of goods into the various classes of community purposes set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, that is, the promotion of art, culture, science, religion, education, charity, sporting or recreational purposes. The recipients do not need to be identified and in particular, individual recipients are not to be identified for privacy reasons.
Note 5. This item covers voluntary services and the cost attributable to these services. The amount of the benefit to be credited for the voluntary activities is $20.00 per hour.
Venue operators should categorise voluntary services into the various classes of community purposes set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, that is, the promotion of art, culture, science, religion, education, charity, sporting or recreational purposes. The recipients do not need to be identified and in particular, individual recipients are not to be identified for privacy reasons.
Note 6. The amount of the benefit is all costs incurred by volunteers in carrying out activities that the venue operator is entitled to claim as community benefits.
Venue operators should categorise costs incurred by volunteers into the various classes of community purposes set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, that is, the promotion of art, culture, science, religion, education, charity, sporting or recreational purposes. The recipients do not need to be identified and in particular, individual recipients are not to be identified for privacy reasons.
Note 7: The amount of the benefit is the difference between the commercial selling price and the selling price that the venue operator offers to the public.
Note 8. Expenditure on fixed assets in the last financial year, other than assets used for gaming purposes, can be included as a community benefit. The amount to be included in relation to fixed assets is:
- Where the asset is purchased by the venue operator using reserves, the cost of the fixed assets, including GST.
- Where the asset is purchased by the venue operator using borrowings, the costs of repaying that loan.
- Where the asset is leased by the venue operator, rental costs for that asset.
In all cases, the fixed asset must be provided for community purposes and the costs met from gaming revenue. Where venue operators have entered into rental agreements or borrowings for non-gaming fixed assets prior to 1 July 2003, payments made after 1 July 2003 under these agreements can be included as community benefits.
The breakdown between gaming and non-gaming areas is as follows: Venues can claim as community benefits the proportion of the non-gaming building floor area as a percentage of the total building area. For example, if 90% of a new building costing $1 million is used for non-gaming purposes, and the building is funded from gaming revenue, then the calculated community benefit is $900,000.
Note 9. This includes direct and indirect costs incurred by venue operators in providing community benefits. Examples include the venue operator’s support of its own activities that meet the definition of community activity or benefit as set out in the Minister’s Determination dated 24 June 2003, such as payments made to subsidise a club’s sporting activities. It also includes costs such as heating and lighting, except where these are associated with gaming purposes. The breakdown between gaming and non-gaming areas is the same as that described in Note 8 above.
Where there is any uncertainty over whether direct or indirect costs are providing community benefits, the test to be applied by venue operators is whether the dominant purpose of the expenditure is providing a community benefit as set out in the Minister’s Determination. The additional costs incurred by venue operators in providing Community Benefit Statements can also be included as community benefits.
Note 10. Section 3.6.9(2)(c) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 requires that Community Benefit Statements be audited. This requirement is met by the Community Benefit Statement being audited by one of the following:
| | (a) | a registered company auditor; or | | | (b) | a firm of registered company auditors; or | | | (c) | a person who is a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia; or | | | (d) | if the venue is an incorporated association, any other person who is approved by the Registrar as an auditor of the accounts of the incorporated association for the purposes of section 30B of the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 |
Attention is drawn to all applicable auditing standards, in particular Australian Auditing Standard AUS802: "The Audit Report on Financial Information Other than a General Purpose Financial Report", and Statement of Auditing Practice AUP 32 "Audit Independence".
Please note that this form requires the venue operator to state that the Community Benefit Statement has been audited with respect to sections 3.6.9(2)(a) and (b) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 (that is, whether or not the community benefit contribution is less than, equal to, or greater than 8 1/3% of the venue operator’s gaming revenue for the year.
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