Families count the costs of gambling addiction

Sue Bailey | Sunday Tasmanian | 2 October 2022

IN the wake of “alarming” figures on gaming machines, there are calls for more measures to curb losses, including minimum bet limits.

TasCOSS CEO Adrienne Picone said as many as one in three Tasmanians personally knew someone with a serious problem due to poker machines.

She said beyond the person experiencing gambling issues, family members, friends, employers and colleagues can also be affected, “The impact of these alarming losses is likely to be exacerbated for Tasmanians who are already doing it tough, with poker machines in hotels and clubs concentrated in lower socio-economic areas,” Ms Picone said.

She urged the government to consider further measures in addition to mandatory precommitment to make poker machines safer including lowering bet limits, slower spin speeds and limiting opening hours for gaming venues.

In Tasmania, The Federal Group has had a monopoly on poker machines for decades but this will end mid-2023 when individual venues will be able to own or lease them. The Federal Group declined to comment on the figures for this article.

Treasurer Michael Ferguson said the government’s nation-leading harm minimisation measures in Tasmania meant players get to decide their maximum losses in advance and would be able to easily play in any venue whenever they wanted.

“We don’t want any Tasmanians losing more money than they can afford on pokies,” he said.

“The old debates about bet limits, spin speeds and even machine numbers were important, but will become far less relevant as we move to player-in-control rules in the future.” Glenorchy Mayor Bec Thomas also supports $1 maximum bet limits, setting spin speeds from three seconds to six and reducing the maximum jackpot.

“Unfortunately it isn’t a surprise that Glenorchy has recorded the largest loss of any single local government area, as this has been the case over the past five years,” she said.

“While gambling is a legal activity enjoyed by many, for some people and their families it can cause financial, social, health and legal hardships including difficulties in maintaining jobs and relationships.” Anglicare Tasmania spokesman Noel Mundy said about 40 per cent of the money poker machines took was from people with a gambling addiction.

He welcomed the government’s decision to introduce the nation’s first universal mandatory precommitment system.

“It will protect people from losing more than they can afford,” he said. “Three in four Tasmanians who used Anglicare’s Gamblers Help service in the past year sought help because of harms caused by poker machine gambling.”

Independent Nelson MLC Meg Webb highlighted the impact of pokies’ losses and harm on small remote communities.

“I’ve spoken to a person who has a family member addicted to pokies in Queenstown, who described how difficult it is to socialise with family and friends without being exposed to pokies,” she said.

“Even a simple counter meal can be a risk because the sound of the machines in the same venue is still present and makes managing the addiction very difficult.” Independent Clark MP Andrew Wilkie said the human toll meant some people were not able to put food on the table or pay their bills.

Amelia Natoli from the Salvation Army said gambling often “preys on the most vulnerable people”. “Our experience working with people affected by gambling issues confirms that the consequences and harm caused by gambling are suffered not only by them but are also extended to family friends, workplaces and communities,” she said.

See more of Meg in the media.