News Alert |

The City of Ballarat is lobbying local state candidates to push for more gambling harm prevention in the municipality and across the state.

Pokies loss in the City of Ballarat has increased by 4.1 per cent from the same time last year, according to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation.

Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said figures show that Ballarat residents lost $194,974 more to poker machines in September 2018 than for the same period last year.

More than $4,901,658 was lost in September 2018 compared with $4,706,684 for September 2017.

The estimated losses on poker machines incurred by Ballarat gamblers, as a percentage of gross individual income, is 12.1 per cent, which is the 11th highest percentage among Victorian councils.

In Ballarat, the number of poker machines equates to 8.3 machines per 1000 adults, higher than ratios in other regional centres including Geelong, Bendigo and Shepparton.

The City of Ballarat also has the 22nd highest pokies expenditure in Victoria, and the 29th in the state for socio-economic disadvantage.

Fifteen venues across Ballarat have a total of 657 poker machines, which is 99 per cent of the municipality’s allowed machines.

However, only 0.9 per cent of the total poker machine losses in Ballarat in 2015/16 were given back through community benefits, such as gifts, donations and sponsorships.

Problems caused by gambling impacts include relationship breakdowns, stress, depression, family violence, child neglect, crime and suicide.

The City of Ballarat is calling on the political candidates from all parties to consider opportunities to address the following goals:

Help reduce the poker machine cap in Ballarat Help prevent the spread of poker machines into population growth zones and other vulnerable communities Advocate to make poker machines less dangerous, through maximum $1 bets, less deceptive features such as ‘near misses’ and ‘losses disguised as wins’ and reduced trading hours Require pre-commitment to give all gamblers control over their spending

Joining the City of Ballarat’s call to action are the Ballarat Interagency Taskforce on Gambling Harm members, including Ballarat Community Health, YMCA, Federation University, Salvation Army and the Central Highlands Primary Care Partnership.

Other partners include the Victorian Local Governance Association and Alliance for Gambling Reform.

City of Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said council had already led the way in trying to minimise gambling harm through its Gaming Machine Community Policy but called on the local state election candidates to help lobby for more initiatives.

“We acknowledge there is a large body of evidence that demonstrates the adverse consequences which result from problem gambling, including financial loss, relationship breakdown and reduced health and wellbeing, and we are very concerned by the prevalence and accessibility of poker machines in Ballarat and their potential harmful impacts,” Cr McIntosh said.

“As community leaders we want reform so we are calling on the candidates from all parties to advocate for a wide range of initiatives aimed at reducing the substantial harm gambling is causing in our municipality.”