Lotterywest changes to benefit small business

• Removes risk of unsold syndicate shares

• A proper ticket to be given to players

• Increased benefits to the community

Lotterywest retailers will have a new option to offer their players as a result of changes to the Lotteries Commission Act introduced to State Parliament today by the Liberal-National Government.

"A ticket into a Lotto syndicate has always been a very popular choice by many Lotto players," Premier Colin Barnett said.

"This initiative will give retailers a wider choice of tickets to offer their players and the removal of the risk of them being left with unsold shares in the syndicates will make a big difference to the small businesses which sell Lotterywest products."

In the past retailers had to set up the syndicates manually and could only give the players a receipt slip - not a proper ticket.  Even with the changes Lotterywest made a year ago, which meant that syndicate tickets can now be produced from the Lotto terminal, Lotterywest retailers still carried the risk of being left with unsold shares.

This change to the Act means Lotterywest will now be able to set up syndicates for all its retailers to sell throughout the State.  Even smaller retailers and those in remote parts of the State will now be able to offer their players affordable tickets into very large systems entries, which are very popular, especially for superdraws and bigger Lotto jackpots.  The service will be available early in the New Year.

"Lotterywest estimates that these changes will generate an additional $10million of ticket sales a year," Mr Barnett said.

"That means another $3million will be raised for the community and Lotterywest retailers will benefit from the increased commission that they stand to earn."

      Fact File

• The bill can be found at http://www.parliament.wa.gov.au
• For more information regarding Lotterywest visit http://www.lotterywest.wa.gov.au

Premier's office - 9222 9475