Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW - Clubs NSW

3 Understanding the social contributions of the registered
clubs industry
Clubs in regional areas play a more important role in providing community infrastructure
In a submission, ClubsNSW noted:
On a regional basis, 97 per cent of non-Sydney clubs provide their members with sporting
facilities, as compared with 89 per cent of Sydney clubs. This difference highlights the
importance of clubs in non-metropolitan regions in providing the community with
sporting facilities. 29
IPART’s case studies of 16 individual clubs of different sizes located throughout the
state bore out this observation. For example, Tathra Beach Country Club
demonstrates the important role of regional clubs in the provision of community
infrastructure. This club is located in a small community with a population of
around 2,000 people (within a 5 kilometre radius of the club), of which over 1,000 are
members of the club. The club identified the need for a second sporting oval in its
town, as the existing oval could not accommodate the community’s current demand.
The club funded the development as well as the ongoing maintenance of a second
oval, which is now well-used by local primary and high school students.
Clubs’ level of social contributions varies according to their size and financial capacity
IPART observed that the amount a club contributes to its community depends on its
size, its financial capacity and its willingness to make community contributions
beyond the level required for it to receive the maximum tax rebate available under
the Community Development and Support Expenditure (CDSE) Scheme. 30
Of IPART’s case study clubs, all but one of those eligible to participate in the CDSE
Scheme made explicit cash contributions above this level (ie, above their ‘CDSE
liability’), and many contributed significantly more than this level. For example,
Mounties – a larger, more commercially-run club in the Sydney suburb of Mount
Pritchard – makes total cash contributions equivalent to around 34 per cent of its net
profit. At the other end of the spectrum, Petersham Bowling Club, a small club in the
inner west of Sydney which is not eligible to participate in the CDSE Scheme and has
made only a small net profit in recent years, makes no explicit cash contributions.
However, it sees its facilities and services as community resources, and offers in-kind
contributions to its community. For example, it runs classic film nights that might
not otherwise be provided commercially.
29 ClubsNSW submission, 31 July 2007, p 37.
30 Clubs with gaming machine revenue greater than $1 million per annum are eligible to participate in
the CDSE Scheme, which provides for them to receive a gaming machine tax rebate for eligible
community contributions that is worth up to 1.5 per cent of their revenue over $1 million. Although
the scheme is voluntary (clubs may instead just pay the tax), the maximum rebate for which a club is
eligible is called a club’s ‘CDSE liability‘. For example, a club with gaming machine revenue of $1.5m
million would have a CDSE liability of $7,500. Eligible community contributions may be cash or inkind.
46 IPART Review of the Registered Clubs Industry in NSW