The ACT government has enacted a plan to reduce the number of poker machines in the area in order to help curb rates of problem gambling. However, a recent report published on ABC News indicates that the plan may not be as effective as politicians hoping, taking an estimated 25 years to have an effect. The ACT’s plan is somewhat of a sinking lid policy that will reduce the number of poker machines from 5400 to 4000.
The government hopes that less availability of poker machine will mean less instances of problem gambling – and while this may be an effective approach, it will take years for it to actually work. Over the course of the past few years, problem gambling has become an increasingly significant issue in Australia. It is only recently, however, that politicians have been working on ways of dealing with it.
Unfortunately, the current proposals for gambling reform have with been contested or proven ineffective. The ACT government has reassured the public that it will employ tactics to speed up its pokie reduction plan, but has not revealed any details. We hope to see the effects of this strategy in less than 25 years, but there are no guarantees.