By Eleanor Wilson and Sahar Foladi
The City of Casey and other councils grappling with the worst pokies losses in the state have united in an urgent plea for gambling reforms.
The council has signed a joint letter to Premier Daniel Andrews along with six other municipalities – Hume, Monash, Whittlesea, Darebin, Greater Dandenong and Wyndham – to demand mandatory cashless precommitment cards and tough laws to reduce the billions of dollars lost each year.
The letter urged the State Government to follow the paths of NSW and Tasmania – who have both recently announced similar reforms.
Data from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission shows Casey spends $314,148 on pokies every day, representing the second highest pokies expenditure in Victoria.
More than $114 million was lost to 912 pokies machines at 13 venues in Casey in 2021-‘22, with the average Casey adult splashing $403 on pokies throughout the year.
City of Casey chair of administrators Noelene Duff said the 2022/23 financial year has seen a “post-COVID resurgence” in electronic gaming machine (EGM) expenditure in the municipality, putting the area on track for its greatest total EGM spend on record.
Consequently, she said the council is committed to “practical and impactful measures that will curb the problem of gambling harm”, including the development of a Gambling Harm Minimisation Policy as part of its Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-‘25.
“We recently signed a joint letter to Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews expressing our concerns and called on the Victorian Government to seize upon the national momentum for progressive gambling reform to protect our communities. This includes the introduction of mandatory cashless pre-commitment cards.”
The council takes a public health approach to the issue, Ms Duff said, focusing on primary prevention, education, and support for those most vulnerable to its impacts.
“As part of our policy development, we will continue to identify measures that will minimise gambling harm in our local context.
“There is growing recognition of the harm gambling causes to many, as well as significant national momentum for reform.
“Council will continue to work to identify opportunities to minimise harm and welcomes State reform that will support this effort.”
In a statement, a Victorian Government spokesperson said it has noted the various motions moved by respective councils in the letter.
“We will continue to monitor the arrangements for hotels and clubs across the state to ensure we have the appropriate regulatory settings and reserve the right to make further changes,” the spokesperson said.
In 2015, the State Government introduced the YourPlay pre-commitment initiative to help players gamble responsibly by setting time and spend limits on a personal gaming card prior to playing.
“Victoria was the first state to provide people the power to track and limit their betting on any electronic gaming machine through the state-wide pre-commitment system, YourPlay,” a Victorian Government spokesperson said.
“We have accepted all recommendations from the YourPlay evaluation report to strengthen the YourPlay scheme, with all recommendations actively underway or delivered.”
The YourPlay pre-commitment tool is voluntary and free for players to use and is available at every gambling venue in Victoria.
In addition to YourPlay, the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) is currently funding a number of councils, including City of Casey, to implement the Libraries After Dark program, which focuses on reaching at-risk communities and those most vulnerable to social isolation, a known risk factor for gambling harm.
According to Australian Institute of Family Services (AIFS), culturally and linguistically diverse communities (CALD) participate in gambling less than the overall population of Australia.
However, if they do gamble, they’ll be at a higher risk of developing problems due to different beliefs about luck and chance, factors related to migration and issues around stigma and shame.
To combat the issue in Casey, in 2021-22, VRGF’s Prevention Partnerships Program funded the Cambodian Association Victoria for their project, ‘Engaging Cambodian Buddhist Temples in Gambling Prevention Partnerships’.
The project involved delivering training and community events to build the capacity of Cambodian community leaders and community members in Melbourne’s south-east to raise awareness of gambling harm.
