"Such behaviour is in clear breach of Responsible Conduct of Gambling responsibilities, which all NSW venues with gaming machines are required to uphold." The screenshots, revealed in whistleblower evidence presented by federal MP Andrew Wilkie, allegedly outline what actions staff take to encourage them to stay gambling. "Started slow, picked up after 9," one note says. "Coffees, drink shouts and toasties trying to keep them in, a lot of promo tickets going out." They also suggest staff are rewarded with vouchers when their venues hit betting targets, and are urged to "be there as much as possible ... do whatever you have to do to keep people in the room." The ALH Group runs hundreds of pubs and more than 12,000 poker machines across Australia. Credit:JOSH ROBENSTONE

The allegations centre on venues run by the Australian Leisure and Hospitality (ALH) Group, a Woolworths majority-owned joint venture with billionaire businessman Bruce Mathieson, which runs more than 12,000 poker machines nationally. After investigating the allegations, the NSW gambling regulator said, it would consider "appropriate compliance and enforcement actions". Queensland's Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation on Wednesday said it was "currently in discussions with the ALH Group". Victorian Gaming Minister Marlene Kairouz said: "people gambling on pokies should never be encouraged to spend above their limit." While the state's Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation said it would "monitor the issue".

Loading In South Australia, the Independent Gambling Authority's acting director, Jeanette Barnes, said that under the state's gambling codes of practice it was appropriate for venue staff to interact with poker-machine players and record certain details that could help identify problematic gambling behaviour. "We would expect staff to be conscious of when gambling patrons are coming and going, how they are behaving, whether there are any changes to their behaviour and talk to them about what's going on," she said. But Ms Barnes said it appeared Mr Wilkie's whistleblower evidence alleged the database contained personal details that should not have been reported, such as the football teams gamblers barracked for. "If the venue is recording people's information for marketing purposes, that's a different matter," she said.

As the allegations may involve potential breaches of gamblers' privacy, they have also prompted inquiries from the national information and privacy commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim. "My office is making inquiries to determine whether personal information of individuals is being managed in accordance with the Privacy Act," he said. ALH Group on Wednesday said in a statement that it treated its responsible gambling obligations in all its venues seriously, and compliance with the law was "not negotiable". If there are instances where that line has been crossed ALH is committed to taking the necessary steps to rectify any breach The company said there was a "line that must be respected" between responsible gambling obligations and legitimate customer service and loyalty initiatives.

"If there are instances where that line has been crossed ALH is committed to taking the necessary steps to rectify any breach and address any non-compliant behaviour," the company said. The statement said ALH Group would expand the scope of an audit of its responsible gambling programs to include the allegations raised by Mr Wilkie, and would assist the Queensland state gambling regulator. Mr Wilkie, whose office was first approached by the whistleblowers, called on Woolworths to give up its 75 percent share of ALH Group if it wanted to protect the "Fresh Food People" image it projected. "I understand that in some states they have to own pubs if they want to own bottle shops, but if the cost of business is to cause this much misery, maybe they should be prepared to make a little less profit." he said. "If they are going to keep their pokie machines then they have to have the very best harm minimisation in place and their gaming rooms have to be run with the highest integrity."