Pokies and Slot Machine Information

Pokies study in Victoria, Australia

March 13, 2006 on 11:18 pm | In Slot machine overviews |

The Victorian Gambling Research Panel (GRP) commissioned a study of the Community Impact of Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) Gambling in Victoria and Western Australia. Published in 2005, the report summarises and compares usage patterns between the two States.

Victorian Department of Gaming Report

Some of the more interesting statistics from the report are:

Page 8: “The share of household disposable income measured in real terms spent on gambling increased from 1.30% in Victoria in 1987-88 to 3.58% in 2002-03. In Western Australia the increase was much smaller - from 1.30% to 1.6% over the same period.”

This means spending on gambling in Victoria almost tripled in disposable income terms in that period - largely due to the introduction of gaming machines:

Page 8: “the key difference in the gambling environment between the two states is the 27,500 machines available in hotels and clubs in Victoria which are not available in Western Australia.”

Page 12: “The majority of Victorians (75%) believe EGM’s do more harm than good, while a clear majority believe gambling is too widely accessible. Ex-Premiers and Mr Lloyd Williams founder of the Crown Casino (Melbourne) have expressed concern that the availability of EGMs are potentially damaging to the ’social fabric’ of communities”

Such a clear majority of those polled, and the voices of ex Premiers are an interesting insight in to slot machine prevalence and its results. If the government would reduce its tax rate to the cost of running the machines regulatory regime, and introduced commonsense restrictions on the machines themselves, player losses would be reduced to manageable levels.

The report is over 200 pages, quite dry yet very interesting. Set aside the hour or so required to read it and you won’t regret the time spent.