The ACT Greens have cast doubt on the transparency of the process in which communities have their say on bids for new poker machines.
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Greens politicians Shane Rattenbury and Caroline Le Couteur have written to the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission opposing applications by two clubs to expand their number of gaming machines.
The Raiders Club in Belconnen wants 33 more machines while the Mawson Club wants 36.
But Mr Rattenbury's submission about the Mawson Club was a day late, partially because of difficulties viewing the social impact statement.
The purpose of the statement is to explore the consequences of bringing extra poker machines into an ACT region.
The documents are put together by consultants on behalf of the club and must be on public display for six weeks to give the community and other parties the chance to have their say.
But the statement can only be viewed by appointment at the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission office under supervision and cannot be reproduced or photographed.
That casts doubt on just how useful the documents actually are in informing the debate on the merits of more machines, Ms Le Couteur said.
"There are questions here as to the transparency of the social impact assessment process and how local community members can be aware of, and contribute to an assessment," Ms Le Couteur said.
"Due to me questioning the Mawson Club application in an MLA capacity at the annual reports hearings I was able to view a copy of the application. However, I remain concerned that the process is not accessible enough to allow all Canberrans to contribute to these important decisions that affect their local communities."
It is understood the reason why the documents cannot be copied is because they are the property of the licensee, not the government.
When Fairfax Media viewed the social impact statement for the Mawson Club last month, one staff member remarked it was the first time in her 20-year tenure she had seen someone request the documents.
In addition, the Greens said both social impact statements failed to provide adequate harm minimisation strategies for gaming machines.
Mr Rattenbury said if the clubs were serious about addressing problem gambling, they would introduce a maximum bet limit per spon and a pre-commitment system on the new machines, like the Productivity Commission recommended.
