Australians are losing billions of dollars more to poker machines than they were before the pandemic, with researchers attributing the sharp increase to “desperation” during a cost-of-living crisis.
In New South Wales, an average of about $22m was lost to poker machines each day during the first six months of 2023, totalling $3.9bn over that period.
Separate analysis shows poker machine losses in some states last financial year were up to 34% higher than during 2018-19, which was the last 12-month period not affected by lockdowns that closed gambling venues.
Analysis by Monash University’s gambling and social determinants unit found NSW residents lost $8.07bn to poker machines last financial year, which was a 23% increase on the $6.5bn recorded in 2018-19.
The increase was sharper in Queensland, where residents lost $3.24bn last financial year compared to $2.42bn in 2018-19 – an increase of more than 33%. In Victoria, losses increased by 12% to $3bn. But in South Australia, losses jumped by 34% to $917m.
Monash University associate professor Charles Livingstone said he wasn’t surprised gambling losses had increased during a cost-of-living crisis because “people gamble when they are desperate”.
“Desperate people often turn to desperate measures and some people unfortunately think they have an opportunity to win something,” Livingstone said.
“The more prevailing reason for this is people under stress are more likely to develop a gambling habit as it relieves their stress and that’s the same reason why there are so many poker machines in areas of disadvantage.”
The chief executive of the charity Wesley Mission, Rev Stu Cameron, has also assessed the latest NSW data.
He said the lost money should have “helped families weather the cost-of-living crisis but instead has gone to propping up a harmful and predatory industry”.
“The pain of broken individuals and families and the harm caused to communities behind these numbers is immense,” Cameron said. “Losses of this scale underpin the urgency for sensible, proportionate and effective reform.”
Wesley Mission said the number of poker machines in NSW jumped from 86,650 to 87,298 last financial year – an increase of 648 machines.
“The overall number of machines had been trending downwards from 2019, so this reversal is disturbing, particularly when the current cap for poker machines in NSW is 96,000,” Cameron said.
“This increase is more concerning when you consider that since 2019 there are also 260 fewer venues with poker machines in NSW. This indicates there is a growing concentration of poker machines in some local government areas.”
Earlier this year, a research paper found almost two-thirds of Sydney’s gambling losses came from western Sydney. Academics from Western Sydney University said gambling harm was a “silent epidemic” in the region.
The latest NSW Liquor and Gaming data shows Canterbury-Bankstown remains the local government area with the highest losses on poker machines at just under $1.8m a day. Blacktown, Liverpool and Penrith also recorded the highest losses.
The Central Coast was the NSW region with the largest losses on poker machines, at $150m, or roughly $5.7m a week. The area has more than 4,200 poker machines.
In June, the NSW government was accused of bowing to pressure from gambling lobbyists after confirming its promised expanded cashless gaming trial was delayed.
A month earlier, the NSW government received a report that found almost two-thirds of people who played poker machines into the early morning were problem gamblers or at moderate risk of developing a problem.
Victoria’s parliamentary budget office has forecast overall gambling losses will increase to $6.7bn by 2026-27, up from around $6bn in the most recent financial year.
The rising losses, along with an increase to the point of consumption tax, has increased revenue for state government, although much of that money must then be diverted to harm-reduction initiatives.
This story was updated on 6 October 2023 after Wesley Mission corrected a figure supplied to the media showing the number of poker machines in the Central Coast.
