Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) is the independent statutory authority that regulates the liquor and gambling industries in Victoria, Australia. The VCGLR is located in North Richmond, Victoria.
This regulation includes liquor and gaming licensing, compliance and education.
Background
The VCGLR commenced operations on 6 February 2012, replacing the Responsible Alcohol Victoria, and Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation. The VCGLR has the power to undertake liquor disciplinary actions, which replaced the role of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
At its inception the VCGLR had 60 Liquor and Gaming Inspectors situated in Morwell, Wangaratta, Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong and Melbourne. In 2013 the VCGLR centralised the inspectors believing that all compliance and education related work performed by the VCGLR could be managed by the central location. Inspections and education of the industry dropped by 40% as a result of this reshuffle and staff were forced into redundancies and a reduction of qualified staff to manage the compliance of the industry. In 2018, inspectors were again placed in the field in Sale and Ararat.
The statutory obligations are set out in several Acts of Parliament. These include regulating:
- the liquor industry in accordance with the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998
- all forms of legalised gambling in accordance with the Gambling Regulation Act 2003, the Casino Control Act 1991 and the Casino (Management Agreement) Act 1993.
Commissioners
The Commissioners of the VCGLR are accountable for statutory decision-making and governance. They are required to make decisions, either individually or collectively with other Commissioners relating to the grant, variation and transfer of licences and permits, conditions attached to licences and permits, disciplinary actions against licensees and permittees and reviews of decisions made under delegation by individual Commissions or members of staff.
Organisation structure
The VCGLR has six functional divisions, each reporting to the Chief Executive Officer:
- licensing
- compliance
- strategy and planning
- legal services
- finance and business services
- people and culture.