Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Pokies in Western Australia

February 10, 2006 on 1:39 am | In Slot machine overviews | 1 Comment

Western Australia is unique amongst Australian states – it has no slot machines outside of its single casino. Its casino, and therefore the entire state, has 523 slot machines. On the other side of the country, the state of Victoria has almost 30,000, and Queensland around 45,000.

A population comparison demonstrates the per capita pokies penetration difference:

State	Population*	Pokies	1 Pokie for	Average Spending
Queensland	3,964,000	45,000	Every 88 people	$967
Victoria	5,022,300	29,500	Every 170 people	$1,133
Western Australia	2,010,100	523	Every 3,843 people	$460

*Population data Jun 05 from

Australian Bureau Statistics
Other data from

The Sunday Mail

Original data from the Sunday Mail reports comes from a report by the South Australian Centre for Economic Studies. The Sunday Mail provides a very interesting breakdown of the differences in employment patterns in states with high penetration of pokies versus Western Australia, with very few.

Western Australia apparently intends to keep its gaming machine numbers low and restricted to its single casino venue. The former Premier (leader in Government) of Western Australia complained in April 2005 that his state was losing taxation revenue as a result of its low pokie count:

“my Government has a policy of no pokies and I want to keep it that way…The proliferation of poker machines in other States and Territories has given them access to a rich revenue stream that doesn’t exist in WA”

WA Government Site

It seems Western Australia has a difficult choice. If it wants to bring in the billions of dollars in tax that other states do from gaming, it has to either introduce the machines, or raise taxes in other areas. In the meantime, the state enjoys the upside to low gaming machine numbers – less problem gambling and enhanced employment opportunities for its residents.