Gaming machine operating authorities (hotels)
If you are a commercial hotel licensee that has been granted a gaming machine licence, or approved to increase the number of gaming machines on your premises, you must obtain an 'operating authority' for each gaming machine you are approved to operate.
Because the number of gaming machines in Queensland is capped, operating authorities may only be obtained by participating in an authorised sale conducted by the Public Trustee of Queensland. Sales are conducted by competitive tender in each of the 3 authority regions (South East, Coastal and Western) and authorities are only able to be sold in the region from which they originated.
Sales (tenders) of gaming machine operating authorities
The sale of gaming machine operating authorities is essentially a tender auction, with bids made through the lodgement of a tender bid form given to eligible purchasers at the commencement of the sale.
How to know when the tender is called
Tenders for gaming machine authorities (hotels) opened on 11 March 2020 and will close on 1 April 2020. Tender 44 authorities being offered (by region) are:
- Western - 22
(There were no operating authorities available in this tender period for the Coastal or South-East region.)
The Public Trustee places an advertisement in The Courier Mail announcing the commencement of a tender. The advertisement states the number of operating authorities available for sale in each region, the closing date and lodgement details.
The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) then contacts all eligible buyers when the new tender has been advertised. Sellers will also receive forms by registered mail.
If you intend to bid for authorities, contact OLGRlicensing@justice.qld.gov.au for the tender bid form, which must be placed in the tender box at the Public Trustee's office no later than that time and date specified on the tender advertisement and paperwork.
The Public Trustee will not accept any bids by email, post or fax. Bids cannot be accepted at any OLGR office.
The tender process
Only 1 tender bid form per eligible premises will be accepted, and you may not bid more than 1 amount per operating authority. If you are licensed to operate gaming machines at more than 1 premises, a separate tender bid form for each eligible premises will be required.
Tender documents must be lodged in the tender box at the office of the Public Trustee of Queensland. Note: OLGR cannot accept any tender documents.
Documents lodged without the lodgement fee (currently $55) or received after the closing time will be declared invalid. If you are lodging bids for more than 1 premises, a lodgement fee will be required for each.
Once the tender has closed, the Public Trustee will allocate each operating authority against valid tenders in order of highest to lowest bid. The Public Trustee will notify successful bidders of their allocation and require payment within 5 working days. Payment for each operating authority will be the amount bid on your tender form, an administration fee of $440 per operating authority, and stamp duty.
For more information about the sale of hotel operating authorities, read the Gaming guideline G06: Authorised sale of operating authorities (hotel).
How much to bid for an operating authority
How much you should bid for an operating authority is a matter for you or your accountant to determine.
The Public Trustee will set a minimum acceptable price for each region and any bids below the amount set will not be successful. The minimum acceptable price will not be disclosed.
Staff at OLGR and the Public Trustee's office are unable to assist you with how much to bid. However, details of the average price paid in previous tenders are available in the table below.
Operating authority tender results
The following table has information about recent sales, including average price, of gaming machine operating authorities. For earlier tender results, contact olgrinfo@justice.qld.gov.au.
|
| SOUTH EAST | COASTAL | WESTERN |
| ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tender | Closing date of sale | Offered | Sold | Avg. price | Offered | Sold | Avg. price | Offered | Sold | Avg. price | Contribution to CF |
| Tender 43 | 20/11/2019 | 5 | 5 | $181,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 12 | $20,000 | $343,000 |
| Tender 42 | 15/08/2019 | 41 | 41 | $161,293 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | $25,000 | $2,006,408 |
| Tender 41 | 3/04/2019 | 88 | 88 | $169,597 | 27 | 27 | $57,489 | 24 | 8 | $28,726 | $5,011,968 |
| Tender 40 | 14/11/2018 | 15 | 15 | $187,954 | 24 | 13 | $48,400 | 26 | 24 | $36,737 | $1,433,315 |
Tender 39 | 18/07/2018 | 37 | 37 | $172,490 | 24 | 24 | $50,903 | 28 | 10 | $35,001 | $2,386,141 |
| Tender 38 | 14/03/2018 | 5 | 5 | $160,085 | 37 | 13 | $57,523 | 29 | 1 | $41,001 | $476,766 |
| Tender 37 | 15/11/2017 | 48 | 48 | $137,155 | 59 | 31 | $55,220 | 24 | 19 | $43,098 | $2,734,240 |
| Tender 36 | 12/07/2017 | 29 | 29 | $161,228 | 25 | 25 | $55,752 | 29 | 16 | $52,972 | $2,075,092 |
Tender 35 | 22/03/2017 | 28 | 28 | $162,499 | 53 | 53 | $65,675 | 3 | 3 | $65,510 | $2,468,176 |
Tender 34 | 23/11/2016 | 37 | 37 | $150,054 | 9 | 9 | $72,510 | 0 | 0 | - | $1,861,377 |
Tender 33 | 27/07/2016 | 20 | 20 | $133,884 | 9 | 7 | $69,457 | 1 | 1 | $55,202 | $965,726 |
Tender 32 | 09/03/2016 | 5 | 5 | $120,746 | 24 | 24 | $65,742 | 10 | 10 | $52,553 | $812,116 |
Tender 31 | 11/11/2015 | 0 | 0 | - | 54 | 54 | $72,678 | 0 | 0 | - | $1,177,380 |
Also consider...
- View current, pending and recently approved gaming machine licence applications.
- View electronic gaming machine statistics for Queensland.
- Read the Gaming Machine Act 1991.
- Last reviewed: 24 Oct 2019
- Last updated: 12 Mar 2020