Australian people’s losses to the local poker machines have totalled AU$11.4 billion in a single year, a recent report has shown.
According to the research data compiled from the Gambling and Social Determinants Unit at Monash University, more than 3.3 million people used the machines, which are also popular under the name “pokies”, in the states of Victoria, New South Wales (NSW), South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania in 2021 and 2022. Each of them generated an average loss of AU$3,429 over the past year.
Charles Livingstone, an associate professor at Monash University, shared that the findings of the research were not surprising at all. What was actually surprising, according to him, was the fact that gamblers’ poker machine losses increased immensely in Queensland, Tasmania, and South Australia, with Queensland residents’ losses having exceeded the ones generated in the state of Victoria as the second-largest pokie state in Australia.
Reportedly, the losses on poker machines in Queensland amounted to over AU$2.7 billion, in comparison to AU$2.23 billion in the state of Victoria. The poker machine users in New South Wales were the ones who generated the biggest pokie losses in the country, with an average loss of AU$4,525 per user, or a total of AU$5.43 billion lost to the local poker machines.
According to researchers, the local government area that saw the largest pokie losses was Brisbane, with over AU$591 million, followed by Canterbury-Bankstown in Sydney and the Gold Coast, with AU$432 million and AU$392 million lost to pokies, respectively. The largest losses in the state of Victoria were in Brimbank – AU$128 million, while South Australia’s Port Adelaide Enfield and Tasmania’s Glenorchy saw pokie losses of AU$86 million and AU$19 million, respectively.
Tough Financial Conditions Affecting Australian Problem Gamblers, Making Them Spend More on Pokies
Professor Livingstone shared that tough financial conditions were still boosting the use of gambling machines across the territory of the country. As people are currently living in some stressful circumstances, they see so-called pokies as a way to relieve stress, which is why entities offering poker machines seem to be concentrated in more socially and economically disadvantaged areas. He also noted that the largest losses were always registered in areas of relative disadvantage.
According to Tony Clarkson, a principal clinical advisor from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, gambling can be both a symptom or an outcome of other issues, such as family violence or mental illness. As he explained, the most prevalent harm is usually the financial issues associated with it. On the other hand, people who suffer from a high prevalence of other disorders, such as depression or anxiety, are more likely to experience mental health issues.
For the time being, there are some free services that support people suffering from problem gambling behaviour and their families. One of these services is the Gambling Helpline.
- Author
Daniel Williams
