Melbourne Cup: A reminder of the DIA’s strange-but-true rules for office sweepstakes
The jackpot limit, the individual limit and (cough) the prohibition on firearms and hookers.
Like many offices, NBR Towers is in the throes of organising a Melbourne Cup sweepstake.
The process is perfectly legal, as long as you stick within the Gambling Act (2003), as enforced by the Department of Internal Affairs.
A spokeswoman for the DIA confirms those are:
- The prize for a class 1 gambling event (such as a Melbourne Cup office sweep) can’t be more than $500
- The cost of tickets in an office sweepstake is dictated by that $500 divided by the number of tickets. Given the Melbourne Cup has 24 horses, that limits you to a maximum cost of $20.83 per ticket.
- All cash collected must be returned as the prize.
If you want to go beyond cash, the act’s list of prohibited prizes includes:
- Firearms
- Liquor
- Vouchers for sexual services
- Tobacco products
Break the rules and you can cop a $1000 fine as a participant, $20,000 if you're an organiser or $50,000 if you're a body corporate hosting an illicit jackpot (as well as dealing with whatever mayhem is caused by drunk staff with guns and visiting hookers).
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Melbourne Cup: A reminder of the DIA’s strange-but-true rules for office sweepstakes
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