Legals

This document outlines the rules and regulations for the use of WIN ON HERE's crowdfunding and fundraising draws, located at https://winonhere.com.

WIN ON HERE, (ABN 39 906 658 251), operates Draw Lotteries in NSW. A Draw lottery is a game where people are sold numbered tickets and a draw is held where one or more numbers are randomly selected. The winner is the person who holds tickets matching the selected numbers.

In NSW a raffle is a lottery where people buy numbered tickets for a chance to win the prizes offered in the raffle.

If the prize pool is less than $30,000, the raffle is classified as a ‘draw lottery’.

A raffle can only be conducted in NSW to raise funds for, or on behalf of, a not-for-profit or charitable organisation.

Draw lottery

A raffle will be classified as a draw lottery if the total value of all prizes is not more than $30,000. A minimum of 40% of the gross proceeds of the raffle must be paid to the benefiting charity or non-profit organisation.

A permit is not required to conduct a draw lottery raffle in NSW.

What conditions apply to holding a raffle?

A raffle should be conducted in a manner that is considered fair and impartial.

The raffle should be open to anyone who wishes to enter (subject to the terms and conditions of the raffle), however individuals conducting the raffle (including those involved in determining the prize winner or individuals involved in the management of any benefiting organisation) can’t enter the raffle. Children can participate unless the rules of the raffle imposes an age limit.

Under the Gaming Laws, a person who conducts a raffle on behalf of another person is also subject to the requirements set out in this document.

Rules of the Raffle

• The person or body conducting a raffle must take all reasonable steps to ensure that the rules governing the raffle:

  • are clearly expressed and kept up to date

  • set out the date when entry is closed for participation

  • set out whether participants may enter more than once

  • set out the prizes to be awarded and the value of each prize

  • set out any costs of, or associated with, claiming a prize

  • set out whether a participant may win more than one prize and any limits on the number of prizes a participant may win

  • set out any age limit for participants

  • set out whether bonus prizes may be awarded

  • set out the manner in which disputes concerning the conduct of the gaming activity or claiming the prize are to be resolved

  • identify the person conducting the raffle and the benefiting organisation

  • if applicable, set out:

  – the manner of determining, notifying and announcing the prize winners and the dates and times at which these will take place

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• – the period for claiming a prize, and

• – the circumstances in which a redetermination of prize winners may occur

• if applicable, require that if there is no prize winner or the prize winner cannot be fun, that information must be published.

A person or body who conducts the raffle must comply with the rules of the raffle

Drawing the raffle

A person who has agreed to sell tickets in a draw lottery must, before the draw, return to the organisation conducting the raffle:

• all ticket-butts relating to the tickets sold by the person,

• all money received from the sale of the tickets, and

• all unsold tickets held by the person In all raffles:

• all valid tickets or entries must be included in the draw, and

• the method of the draw must allow each ticket in the draw a random and equal chance of being drawn

The person or body conducting the raffle must take all reasonable steps to ensure that, if there is a change in the way in which the raffle is conducted, including when the draw for prizes takes place, information about the change is notified to participants or made publically available within a reasonable time before the activity or draw takes place.

Raffle proceeds

All proceeds to the raffle must be deposited into an account at an authorised deposit-taking institution no later than two business days after the money is received.

Advertising the raffle

Any advertising of the raffle must not:

• be misleading or deceptive

• depict children participating in a raffle activity

• suggest that winning or any improvement in financial prospects will be a definite outcome of participating in the raffle, or

• encourage a breach of the law
  

The Gaming Laws provide for a fine of up to $550 for failure to comply with these requirements.

What are the requirements for raffle tickets?

NSW Fair Trading advises that raffle tickets should include:

• the price

• name of the person or organisation conducting the gaming activity

• name of the benefiting organisation, and

• the authority number (if applicable)

What are the requirements for raffle prizes?

The following items may not be offered as prizes in any raffle in NSW:

• tobacco, smoking or vaping products (as defined in the Public Health (Tobacco) Act 2008)

• the provision of cosmetic surgery or other substances to which Division 1A of Part 3 of the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act 1996 applies

• firearms, ammunition or an imitation firearm within the meaning of the Firearms Act 1996

• prohibited weapons within the meaning of the Weapon Prohibition Act 1998, or

• any other prize that, if offered, contravenes any other NSW or Commonwealth Law (for example, the Charitable Fundraising Act 1991 and the Gaming Machines Act 2001)

For any raffles where liquor is a prize, tickets can’t be sold to or by any person under 18 years of age. The liquor component of all the prizes must not exceed:

• 20 litres of liquor with an alcohol content not exceeding 20% by volume, or

• more than five litres of liquor with an alcohol content exceeding 20% by volume

All prizes must be preserved carefully until the prize winners have taken possession of the prizes, and the prize winners must only receive the prize they have won.

If the prize is money exceeding $5,000, any amount that exceeds $5,000 must be paid by electronic funds transfer or in a manner that is agreed between the prize winner and the person paying the prize.

Unclaimed prizes

A prize is taken to be unclaimed if the person or body conducting the raffle can’t, after making all reasonable inquires, award the prize to the prize winner because the prize winner can’t be located or because of other special circumstances

What records must be kept for a raffle?
If the raffle is a draw lottery, the person or body conducting the raffle must keep appropriate records (which may include the records listed below) for a period the person or body thinks fit.

• all expenses incurred

• the date on or period during which the gaming activity was conducted

• the date on which prize winners were determined and announced

• prizes and total prize value offered

• gross proceeds

• proceeds paid to the benefiting organisation (if applicable) and the ratio of those proceeds to the gross proceeds received, expressed as a percentage, and

• if practicable, the names and contact details of prize winners and prizes won

What other legal obligations do you have if you conduct a raffle?
For draw lotteries – not-for-profits benefiting from the raffle must receive 40% or more of the gross proceeds from the raffle. This means expenses can’t exceed 60% of the total proceeds.

Remuneration or a commission can be paid to third-party raffle organisers in the limited circumstances set out below.

If the benefiting not-for-profit organisation receives less than the required percentage of the gross proceeds from the raffle, the raffle organiser must notify NSW Fair Trading and seek its approval to pay the reduced sum to the benefiting not-for-profit organisation. The application must explain the unusual circumstances that resulted in the outcome.

Can someone run a raffle on behalf of a community organisation?

A person or organisation can only run a raffle on behalf of your community organisation if the governing body of your organisation (for example, the committee of management or board of directors) gives them written consent to do so.

Your organisation should make sure that the person or organisation that runs a raffle on its behalf will do so properly.

The cost of buying a raffle ticket is not tax deductible for a person even if the organisation running the raffle is endorsed as a deductible gift recipient. Your community organisation should not issue tax deductible receipts or represent or imply that the cost of raffle tickets is tax deductible

Awarding prizes under the Gaming Laws

All gaming activities governed by the Gaming Laws require an organisation that conducts a lottery to award the winner of each prize with the prize specified, unless:

• the prize-winner consents to receiving an alternative prize of similar value, or

• after making all reasonable enquiries, the prize-winner can’t be located

When advertising and awarding prizes as part of any lottery or game of chance, not-for-profit organisations should be aware of their obligations under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL)

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This requires organisations to fulfil promises they have made to give gifts, prizes or other free items made in connection with the promotion of goods and services. In order to comply with this provision, an organisation should ensure that when it offers or advertises a particular prize for a competition, it intends to honour the offer and award the prize as advertised. An organisation must be able to show that it had the genuine intention of providing the prize as advertised and took reasonable precautions and exercised due diligence to ensure that it would be in a position to do so.

Updated 8 April 2024