The introduction of cashless gaming cards in NSW once seemed like a certainty, but now these plans appear to have fallen out of favour.  The state government now seems to be favouring the concept of opt-in digital payments and critics of this new direction have stated that it would do little to minimise gambling harm and nothing to prevent money-laundering activities.

Decision Makers

The Customer Service and Digital Minister, Victor Dominello, proposed in 2020 that both casual and problem gamblers should be required to load all their gambling funds onto smart cards.

This concept was a component of a wider initiative to introduce cashless gambling which saw the trial introduction of cashless gaming machines, hosted by the Wests City venue in Newcastle.

The card idea was also supported by former Supreme Court judge Patricia Bergin, who Dominello appointed to administer an investigation into Crown Resorts. The former judge subsequently advised that cashless cards would be an effective tool in the effort against money laundering, while ultimately abstaining from directly endorsing them.

Since then the push for cashless gambling has garnered a mixed bag of support from the NSW cabinet. Dominello was subsequently replaced by Hospitality and Racing Minister, Kevin Anderson. This move was regarded by many as punishment as his suggestions had caused concern among several prominent industry groups.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform’s chief advocate, Reverend Tim Costello, recently spoke in a media interview, saying that he is against a mandatory cashless gaming card administered by the government.  He indicated that he was somewhat in favour of digital payments, but only as an “opt-in”.

The government has advised that it is examining the findings of the ongoing NSW Crime Commission inquiry, which it says is a vital source of information about the connection between organised crime and pokie machine-related money laundering activities.

In the balance

Cashless gambling’s future currently looks uncertain as stakeholders all wait to see what comes of the government’s deliberations. ClubsNSW’s CEO, Josh Landis, has spoken in support of the inquiry in the past and advised that the organisation looks forward to a fair valuation of the issue, which will enable clubs to do their part to combat organised crime.

On the other hand, NSW upper house independent MP, Justin Field recently accused the government of being intimidated by the clubs and hotel associations that are primarily concerned with safeguarding their pokies revenue.

“The idea that organised criminals would ‘opt in’ to a digital wallet is fanciful nonsense that will keep open the door to money laundering through poker machines in NSW,” Field remarked.​

Venues and clubs within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) are to be offered a $15 000 government incentive for every poker machine authorisation that they are willing to surrender. The government has invested $1.74 million into this voluntary initiative that seeks to reduce the number of pokies in the territory by 116.

Once a venue has surrendered the authorisation certificates for all its pokies, it will be categorised as “pokie-free” and the incentive paid will be increased to $20,000 per surrendered authorisation.

Providing the fund is not exhausted before them, payments will be available until December 31, 2022.

Attorney general Shane Rattenbury commented,

“Community clubs should be a safe place for families and vulnerable people to meet and connect, but the exposure and access to electronic gaming machines can cause harm in our community. More than 15,000 Canberrans have experienced harm from their own gambling and 43,000 Canberrans have had a family member with gambling issues”

“Our community clubs play an important role in the social life of many Canberrans, so we want to continue supporting our clubs while reducing the harm from pokies, and I believe these surrender incentive payments can assist to achieve that,” he added.

This initiative was launched as a result of the tenth Parliamentary and Governing Agreement that prescribes the reduction of the number of gaming machine authorisations in the ACT to 3500 by 2025.

NSW community pokie grants in the balance

A recent investigation determined that close to 75% of the NSW government’s gambling revenue grant program has been funnelled into coalition electorates.

The study detailed that a large amount of revenue has been derived from Sydney’s southwest communities where pokies are abundant and $75 million of the $103.4 million program was channelled into Liberal and National electorates in NSW between 2013 and 2021.

Among the projects to receive funding were a $236,523 scenic garden pathway in the Southern Highlands, $142,675 for the replacement of an equestrian arena for a pony club in Terrigal, and an artist in residence sustainability project close to Nowra for $131,000.

A tenth of gambling profit grants was directed to clubs with pokies across NSW, of which over $1 million was allocated for “kitchen expansions, refurbishments and upgrades” and a “container kitchen/food truck” under the banner of “emergency relief”.

It was shown that over half a dozen electorates with high pokie numbers had inversely low socio-economic indicators. Areas like Bankstown, Cabramatta, Lakemba, Campbelltown, Prospect and Auburn were awarded little to no funds and these areas are also consequently mostly held by ALP politicians.

Out of the top 10 clubs in NSW for net profit per poker machine, nine are situated in these vulnerable areas.​

Recent reports have revealed that Victorians spent more than ever on pokies in December 2021. The state’s poker machines took in $251 million, the highest monthly loss in Victoria’s history.

This figure surpassed the long-held previous record of $250 million from December 2008. At the time, the upsurge was largely attributed to the government’s distribution of stimulus payments in response to the global financial crisis.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission revealed that the state’s players lost $224 million in January 2022, seemingly in defiance of the impact of a record number of COVID-19 infections that month. Areas classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics index of relative socio-economic disadvantage as ‘disadvantaged’, contributed most to the losses.

Brimbank Bleeds

Brimbank, Melbourne’s second-most disadvantaged local government area (LGA) and the third-most disadvantaged in the state had the highest losses, with over $42 million recorded from November 2021 to January 2022. Close to $15 million of this was lost in December alone.

Brimbank also has the unfortunate distinction of being the area worst affected by Omicron infections, with the highest rate and number of COVID-19 deaths in the state since December.

Five of Victoria’s 79 local government areas with poker machines contributed 25.81% to the state’s pokies losses over the past three months. These include Brimbank, Hume, Greater Dandenong, Whittlesea and Casey.

According to gambling reform advocates, around 40% of losses from electronic gaming machines are generated by high-risk gamblers. This suggests that reported gambling losses translate to a rough indicator of levels of gambling harm.

Changes on the Horizon

The Victoria government had previously announced that it would be re-forming its regulatory body, the Victorian Commission for Liquor and Gaming Regulation. This revelation came in August 2021, when the royal commission was in full swing. The government stated that the new body would receive broader oversight powers to enable it to better monitor and evaluate gambling harm minimisation measures.

The Chief Advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello said,

“Yes, people are waking up to the harm being done by this predatory industry. Yes, the Victorian government has committed to first steps in holding Crown accountable. But what about the hundreds of millions lost every month in pubs and clubs? What action is being taken to address this crisis?”

Costello suggested measures like pre-commitment systems that force players to proactively place limits on their gambling spending, reduced opening hours for pokies venues, and banning losses disguised as wins.

Samantha Ratnam, the leader of the Victorian Greens, spoke grimly about the record losses, calling them “unfortunately really shocking but also not surprising”.

“The longer we wait to protect people from the predatory pokies industry, the more families are likely to be preyed upon and the more it’s going to cost Victorians,” she added.

The Greens have long stood in support of gambling harm minimisation measures, such as $1 bet limits, $20 pre-loading maximums and $500 jackpot limits.​