ACT gamblers lose $200m to pokies despite cut in machine numbers

Canberrans lost more than $200 million on poker machines in the past financial year. The jump in losses came as the number of machines in the territory fell, prompting questions about the ACT government's policy of cutting the number of machines in an effort to ease gambling addiction.

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Minister for Gaming Reform Dr Marisa Paterson says the aim is to get the number of poker machines down from 3000 to no more than 1000 by 2045. Pictures by Karleen Minney and Dion Georgopoulos

In the financial year before, ACT gamblers lost just over $190 million to poker machines. And they lost $186,545,683.07 in the tax year before that (2023-24), according to the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission.

These mounting losses to the pokies came as the number of machines in the ACT fell, down to 3202 on the latest count from 3395 last year and 3578 machines the year before that.

The big picture shows that fewer machines are each taking more money. For the whole year, each machine in the ACT took an average of about $63,000 from gamblers.

Critics say poker machines offer a particularly aggressive form of gambling which is designed to draw people in, leading to addictive behaviour where people lose much more than they can afford. Signs of gambling harm include betting more than the punter can afford, needing to gamble more and more to get the same feeling of excitement, and returning on another day to try to win back losses.

In extreme cases, addicted gamblers go bankrupt, and even die by suicide (as Hellenic Club gambler Raimo "Ray" Kasurinen did in 2020).

About one in six ACT gamblers reported "some degree of problem gambling", according to the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission's annual report. Given that the commission has previously reckoned that half the adult population has gambled at some stage in the previous year, that could still amount to many thousands of Canberrans who have had difficulties from gambling.

But many of the ACT's clubs depend on poker machine revenue to subsidise entertainment and high-quality, affordable food.

The Canberra Labor Club, for example, had gaming revenue of more than $23 million last year, more than half its total revenue, according to the club's annual report. On recent figures, nearly one in seven dollars lost to poker machines in Canberra went to the Canberra Labor Club.

The clubs argue that the ACT government's policy targets them unfairly as it tries to cut the number of machines.

"Our concern is that the overall policy direction increasingly looks like prohibition by degrees. Government cannot assume that making lawful activity progressively harder will address the behaviours causing harm," Craig Shannon, chief executive of ClubsACT, said.

"The measure of success should be fewer people suffering gambling harm. The Government needs to demonstrate that its whole policy approach will achieve that."

The ACT's Labor government's policy is to get the number of machines authorised down from the current 3000 or so "to no more than 1000 by 2045". Ten years ago, there were 5000 poker machines in the territory.

Gaming Reform Minister Marisa Paterson said that cutting the number of machines was not the only policy. There would also be a ban on eftpos machines and ATMs at venues. There would be compulsory breaks from machines.

"Gambling reform is ongoing, and the Government remains committed to implementing nation-leading measures to reduce the negative impacts of gambling on the community."

The $200 million loss by Canberra punters on Canberra pokies is thought to be a record but it is not a record if inflation is taken into account. In 2000, the year's loss was about $165 million, which would be double that in today's money.

The ACT Gambling and Racing Commission said that it had penalised some clubs for breaking the Gaming Machine Act 2004.

Raiders Belconnen had been fined $20,000. The RUC and the Harmonie Club had each been fined $5000.

Last year, the Hellenic Club was fined $1.2 million for breaking the law over the death by suicide of Mr Kasurinen. It's currently challenging that, with a decision expected in November. The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal decided that repeated warnings from the dead man's family about his addictive gambling did not add up to a clear warning to the club that he should have been barred from the machines.

But it did find that the club's staff helped him and his now widow take out multiple eftpos bundles of cash to exceed the legal ceiling.

• National Gambling Helpline: 1800 858 858
• Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14; Men's Referral Service 1300 776 491; Kids Helpline 1800 551 800; beyondblue 1300 224 636; 1800-RESPECT 1800 737 732.
  

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