Casino Canberra will extend its opening hours from Saturday as part of the new owners' plan to revitalise the area, but anti-gambling advocates are worried about the consequences for vulnerable ACT residents.
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Starting on Valentines Day, the casino will open every day at noon and close at 4am, with an option of staying open until 6am if it is busy.
A spokesman for the casino said gambling and dining services would be available during all opening hours.
"The new owners [Aquis Developments] felt if you were going to have a casino operating here it would at least have to be open for the larger part of the day and into the early hours of the morning," he said.
But St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra and Goulburn president Frank Brassil said he was disappointed to see more gambling services available in the ACT around the clock.
"We think there's more than enough gambling access already," he said.
"Given that this extends the casino into the early afternoon, this puts more difficulties in the way of people for whom gambling is already a problem."
Mr Brassil said not enough work was being done to tackle problem gambling in the ACT community, which took people away from their families and food off the table.
"It just doesn't help if highly attractive forms of gambling such as casinos become more accessible than they already are," he said.
ACT Council of Social Service director Susan Helyar said longer opening hours increased the risk of people spending more money and time than they planned to at the gaming tables.
"One of the major strategies to reduce the harm caused by gambling is to reduce access to the product, so that's why we are not supportive of extended opening hours," she said.
Casino Canberra was sold to Hong Kong billionaire Tony Fung in December and the casino spokesman said the extended opening hours were part of the new owners' short-term plans for the area.
"The first decision they made was to recruit more staff and wind back the opening hours and that was a decision based on making sure the casino still has a relevant place in the mix of entertainment options," he said.
The spokesman said in the long term the owners would undertake a complete redevelopment of the Casino Canberra precinct.
