GHRRA Reflect On Four Years Of Change
With the Greyhound and Harness Racing Regulatory Authority (“the Authority”) now over four years old, the GHRRA nopw feels it is an opportune time to give all industry stakeholders an update on its achievements.
The principal objectives of amalgamation were that it would deliver operating cost savings of at least $800,000 and that these savings would be delivered without compromising integrity.
According to the NSW GHRRAthey have outperformed against these measures, “with cost savings now exceeding $1,000,000 and a record of implementing changes to stewarding and regulation helping promote confidence in racing”.
“These cost savings are significant and are largely attributable to removing duplicated functions and finding more efficient ways of doing what we do. Accordingly, staff numbers have fallen 28%. Put another way, had these savings not been found, the Authority would require industry funding more than $1 million above present levels. These savings mean that more money is available for important matters like increased prize money or investment in the industry”.
While these savings are important, it is racing integrity that remains the most fundamental priority for the GHRRA – “it is this integrity that inspires the confidence in racing that helps promoting wagering turnover”.
According to the GHRRA some of the changes that have helped build confidence in our industry include:
- Removal of the need for greyhound owners to be licensed and pay licence fees
- Abolishment of fees for syndicate registration
- Centralised scratchings for all TAB meetings and facilitation of online scratchings
- Banning of the use of anabolic steroids in male greyhounds and in most circumstances for female greyhounds
- Introduced trials for greyhounds to finish on the lure (as opposed to finishing in the catching pen)
- Introduced police checks for new licensees
- Introduced independent confirmatory analysis for swabbing at no direct cost to participant
The GHRRA further go on to say that “while it's important to note the achievements of the past, the Authority continues to work to deliver more improvements to our industry. Important issues like seeking head-on cameras to assist stewards and improvements to our licensing processes are developments already in the pipeline”.
“The Authority continues to seek more operational efficiencies to deliver more savings and enhance integrity”.