Responsible gambling advocates who were less than impressed with the result of the gambling reform legislation will be pleased to know that pre-commitment isn’t the only way to reduce gambling spending in Australia. It has been revealed that Victoria’s ban on ATMs in pokie venues has resulted in some positive outcomes for problem gamblers in the area. On July 1, 2012, a ban on ATMs in pokies venues across Victoria was enacted.

Over the course of the past five months, this has resulted in a 6.7% drop in gambling spending in the state – equalling an impressive $62 million. Throughout this period, there has been a decline of 8% in spending from the previous year, when pokie players spent more than $2 billion on the games in total.

Many politicians doubted that removing ATMs from gaming venues would have little impact on problem gambling rates in Australia, but this small gesture has made a huge impact. It seems that a great deal of gambling spending is unintentional. For example, a player does not leave the house intended to wipe out their bank account on pokies.

Rather, they are looking to spend a reasonable amount of money and end up getting carried away. The downside of the reduction in gambling spending is a drop in funding for the government. Pokies are a rich resource for local charities and organizations, helping them providing valuable services to local residents.

Without this funding, the government and local community groups will need to find a new way to generate this type of funding; however, they do not seem bothered by the reality of the situation. "I'd rather not take one dollar from problem gambling," says Gaming Minister Michael O’Brien. On the heels of the success of this project, the Victorian government has also announced plans to ban the use of headphones when playing pokies.

This will prevent players from becoming engulfed in the gaming experience and enable them to make better decisions with regards to how to spend their money.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.