Laws to protect problem gamblers from heavy losses on pokies would significantly benefit Melbourne’s west, according to experts and Greens MP Colleen Hartland.
The Greens last week introduced legislation to the Victorian Parliament for $1 bet limits on the state’s poker machines, as recommended by the Productivity Commission.
Ms Hartland said the bill would particularly benefit people in the western suburbs, home to an estimated 40 per cent of the state’s problem gamblers.
A 2012 report by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission showed Melbourne’s North West Metro Region had the highest average expenditure on pokies per person across all regions of Victoria, at $707 per person – almost 5 per cent of average annual income. “[At $1.8 billion] Maribyrnong has the highest cumulative losses per adult person of any local government area since records began in 1992-3.”
Ms Hartland said financial stress, job loss, family breakdown, crime, depression and suicide were some of the worst impacts of problem gambling.
She said a $1 limit on bets would be the most straightforward and effective option for limiting the losses of problem gamblers, to $120 per hour on average.
Deakin University’s Associate Professor of Psychology, Nicki Dowling, said evidence showed the $1 limit would be likely to stem the losses of problem gamblers without having a negative impact on casual pokies users who tend to bet lower amounts at a time.
