The Inner West ranks among the top 20 Council areas in NSW for poker machine losses. At the Council meeting on Tuesday 13 December, I'll be teaming up with Greens Councillor Liz Atkins to the following motion calling for poker machine reform.

That Council:

1. Writes to the Premier of NSW and the Leader of the NSW Opposition supporting calls for:

a)  NSW to introduce universal mandatory cashless and harm reduction payment systems for poker machine gambling;

b)  All poker machines in pubs and clubs to be turned off between midnight and 10am;

c)  The establishment of a single, state-wide self-exclusion register funded by gambling taxation revenue, managed independently from the gambling industry, and overseen by an appropriate independent statutory body;

d)  Councils to have a statutory right to be able to make submissions on every poker machine application in their community, regardless of Local Impact Assessment status, and appeal any decision made by the Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority; and

e)  NSW poker machine data to be transparently published by venue at least every six months.

2. Continue to annually apply to the Office of Responsible Gambling for at least one grant a year for a harm minimisation project designed in consultation with the Inner West community.

3. Continue an annual Gambling Harm Minimisation Roundtable, open to the public, one focus of which is to develop a community education and awareness campaign in regard to gambling harm minimisation, to be co-chaired by Councillors Atkins and Lockie.

4. Commend and publicise all pubs and clubs in the Inner West that are proudly pokies free, including – but not limited to – the Pratten Park Bowling Club, the Concordia Club, Crowbar Leichhardt, the Duke Enmore, the Annandale Hotel, the Petersham Bowling Club, Carlisle Castle Hotel and The Henson.

Background

NSW was the first state to legalise poker machines in 1956.  It now has 20% of the world’s pokies. Latest data shows there were 86,640 machines in the state as of June 30 this year – more than any other state.

Approximately $95 billion in cash flows through poker machines in pubs and clubs in NSW each year including, according to the NSW Crime Commission’s Project Islington Inquiry into Money Laundering via Electronic Gaming Machines in Hotels and Clubs, billions of dollars of proceeds of crime.

Australians lost more than $11.4 billion to poker machines in pubs and clubs across 5 states in 2021. In NSW in the first six months of 2022 almost $4 billion was lost on poker machines.

The sheer scale of these losses, along with the high social costs of gambling addiction and money laundering, make it critical for governments to take meaningful action to minimise harm.

An Inner West problem

In the Inner West, there is approximately 1 gaming machine per 100 people.  Our local government area ranks 52nd out of 99 in terms of clubs and 48th out of 93 for hotels in terms of revenue of gaming machines. During the period December 2021 to May 2022, net profits for gaming machines in the Inner West were $78 million. Our local government area ranks among the top 20 for gaming machine losses.

Giving local councils more say over the number and location of pokies in their local government areas would allow communities to strike a better balance between harm reduction, entertainment and social benefit appropriate to their neighbourhoods - rather than having excessive numbers of pokies simply imposed upon communities by state licensing authorities and government.  

Saving lives and livelihoods

Gambling contributes to poverty, poor mental health, and suicide.  The connection between gambling and domestic and family violence is well documented; gambling leads to an increase in both the frequency and severity of intimate partner violence against women as well as a higher prevalence of financial abuse.

A study by the Australian Gambling Research Centre published in September 2020 investigated the relationship between gambling and violence by men against their female intimate partners.  While gambling was found not to directly cause intimate partner violence, it does reinforce the gendered drivers of violence to intensify the frequency and severity of intimate partner violence against women. The study also highlights the prevalence of economic abuse among women experiencing gambling-related intimate partner violence. 

Bringing back live music

The introduction of poker machines in NSW pubs is also believed to have contributed to the decline of live music in these venues, including in the Inner West, as stages, bars and dining areas were removed to make room for pokies and venues became more reliant on gambling revenue.

Put Pokies in their Place campaign

In response to the harm gambling causes, Wesley Mission and a broad-based coalition of concerned supporters have commenced a campaign on five key reform measures, which are reflected in the motion and set out in more detail here:https://www.wesleymission.org.au/get-involved/put-pokies-in-their-place/.

The measures reflect what experts seeking to reduce gambling harm are calling for, as well as the recommendations made by the NSW Crime Commission, #1 of which was that the “Government introduce a mandatory cashless gaming system to minimise EGM [electronic gaming machine] related money laundering within pubs and clubs.”

Solidarity with Unions

A joint statement released by the UWU, NSW Council of Social Services and Wesley Mission noted that staff working in gambling venues are an under-recognised cohort of people who experience harm from gambling. They noted that staff are at greater risk of developing gambling problems than the general public, and called for reforms to reduce gambling harm.  They also noted that those workers suffer harm due to the impact of dealing with people suffering from pokie addiction – the abuse, threats and dealing with vulnerable people who have lost everything.

While one of the key objections from some in the pubs and clubs industry to has been the claim that introducing cashless gaming would lead to job losses, the United Workers Union that represents gaming room employees has disputed this, noting that the hospitality industry generally faces a labour shortage.

Restating Council’s commitments

Council had resolved on 5 February 2019 to host an annual Gambling Harm Minimisation Roundtable, open to the public, to help minimise gambling harm  Council also resolved to commit to applying to the Office of Responsible Gambling for at least one grant per year for a harm minimisation project designed in consultation with the Inner West community, which we have done successfully in the past. Recommitting to both of these actions post-Covid will allow Council to continue to take action at a local level to minimise the harm gambling causes our community.

UPDATE 15/12/22: I was disappointed, but not surprised, that Labor struck out the first part of the motion that would have seen Council advocate for strong, evidence-based reforms. Instead, Labor would only support a trial of cashless gaming. This is in line with the position of the NSW Opposition Leader, who’s only prepared to reform the gambling sector after a voluntary trial is held. We did agree on amends to points 2-4, which are reflected in the motion above that Clr Atkins and I tabled. But the first point was amended as follows:

1. Write to the Premier of NSW and the Leader of the NSW Opposition supporting calls for a broad scale trial of cashless gaming and harm reduction payment systems for electronic gaming machines.