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.
