Page 1614 - Week 06 - Thursday, 23 July 2020
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Kate and others who have shared their own stories are urging us, urging the ACT government, to take action now while we can, before people return to harm.
Across the country there are other stories of people experiencing gambling harm calling for changes post COVID. In an interview with the ABC, a young Victorian veteran could not say exactly how much money he has blown on the pokies but estimated it could be anything up to $100,000. He and others like him are calling for the whole dynamic of RSLs—in that particular case—to drastically change, to stop them “taking advantage of people that are in need most”.
In the news last week we saw that the Dee Why RSL was fined after the tragic suicide of a patron experiencing gambling harm. The patron lost almost a quarter of a million dollars in less than two years at the club, where he was treated to special events and high-roller perks while his gambling addiction was largely ignored.
In the ACT, people can lose more than $1,000 in an hour playing the pokies. In a post-COVID world where jobs have been lost and future incomes are uncertain, who can realistically afford to lose that much, and at what cost emotionally, physically and financially?
In 2014-15 almost 20 per cent of ACT adults played the pokies at least once, with losses totalling $37.48 million. Non-problem gamblers accounted for 37 per cent of all money lost on poker machines, while 63 per cent came from people with some problem gambling behaviours.
The 2019 ACT gambling survey commissioned by the ACT Gaming and Racing Commission and undertaken by the Australian National University found that:
A negative view of gambling is common across the ACT community, with no single subpopulation reporting positive attitudes.
The report notes that 9.6 per cent of the ACT adult population, or approximately 31,000 adults, experienced gambling harm in the past 12 months, and 64.3 per cent of respondents agreed that poker machines do more harm than good for the community. It also found that nearly half, or 49 per cent, of the ACT adult population believe that the maximum bet on poker machines should be changed.
In this term of the Assembly there has been some positive movement in this space. At the 2016 election the ACT Greens called for a reduction in the number of poker machine licences in the ACT. It became part of the parliamentary agreement and it has seen steps taken to reduce the impact of gambling harm on ACT communities.
The reduction of poker machine authorisations from 4,938 to 3,888 is a start, as is the continued work with venues to transition away from their reliance on gaming machine revenue, and for greater transparency and clarity around the uses of community contribution schemes.
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