2026 LGAQ CONFERENCE MOTIONS & COUNCILLOR ATTENDANCE · Attachment 6 - Electronic Gaming Machines on Council-Owned and Trustee Land

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                            legislative amendments that give local governments greater standing
                            to address the clustering of gaming venues and associated
                            community harm. Together, these reforms would ensure councils are
                            genuine participants — not bystanders — in decisions that shape the
                            health and wellbeing of the communities they serve.
Background
                            Noosa Shire Council is currently reviewing its Community Purpose
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                            Land and Infrastructure Tenure Policy. As part of that process,
                            Council is developing a formal policy position on electronic gaming
                            machines on council-owned and trustee land, with community
                            wellbeing and harm minimisation as central principles. This follows
                            the precedent set by Logan City Council's Gaming Machines Policy
                            and reflects a growing recognition within Queensland local
                            government that councils need clear, transparent frameworks to
                            guide decisions in this area.
                            Noosa's experience reflects a broader gap. Councils across
                            Queensland are regularly called upon to respond to community
                            concern about gaming venues, yet have no formal standing in the
                            State's licensing process and limited legislative tools to address
                            venue clustering or its cumulative community impacts. Where
                            venues are concentrated in lower socio-economic areas — a pattern
                            well-documented in harm-minimisation research — the
                            consequences fall hardest on the communities local government
                            exists to serve, with councils left to manage the downstream effects
                            without the upstream influence.
                            The two reforms sought by this motion are complementary.
                            Mandatory consultation prior to the granting, transfer, or expansion
                            of licences would ensure local councils have a formal opportunity to
                            put their policy positions — and their communities' interests — on
                            the record before decisions are made. Legislative amendments
                            giving councils greater standing to address clustering would provide
                            the tools to act on those positions in a meaningful, durable way,
                            rather than having them noted and disregarded in the existing
                            process.
                            Together, these changes would bring Queensland's framework into
                            step with the legitimate role local government already plays in land
                            stewardship, community services, and harm response. They do not
                            seek to transfer regulatory responsibility from the State — they seek
                            to ensure that the tier of government closest to the community has a
                            recognised, formal voice in a process that directly affects the land it
                            holds and the people it represents.
Case study/ Example
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                                                                                              June 26
                                                                                       Wilson Crawley