POKIES losses are far higher in disadvantaged areas across the country than among wealthier communities, a new study has confirmed.
The academic report reveals losses are closely tied with disadvantage and also proves a link between the high number of machines in suburbs such as Braybrook and higher rates of loss.
The Modelling vulnerability to gambling-related harm: How disadvantage predicts gambling losses report, released last week, recommends tightening rules around pokies to protect vulnerable areas from harm.
Co-author Charles Livingstone, of Monash University, said residents in the poorest areas were losing an average of $849 per adult each year compared with $298 in the most advantaged areas.
“For an area like Braybrook it is a double whammy. Not only do they spend a lot more money, but the number of pokies located in these areas causes a lot more harm,” he said.
Dr Livingstone said the latest study broke losses down to a more detailed level than studies in the past, which tended to focus on local government areas.
“This is further evidence of the need for local decisions around this.”
Councils in Victoria are calling for changes to the regulatory system to give them more say in decisions about the location and number of gambling machines.
In August, the Weekly reported that Maribyrnong gamblers continue to blow more than $1 million a week on the municipality’s 439 poker machines.
The average loss for each adult in the municipality stands at close to $1000 a year — Melbourne’s third-highest rate and well above the state average of just over $600 per adult.
A September council study found pokies came with social costs including crime, job loss, depression, relationship breakdown and suicide.
Dr Livingstone criticised the state government’s reliance on gambling revenue. “This is a regressive regime. The people who can least afford to contribute are contributing the most.”
