A recent report by ABC News features Western Australia, an area of the country which does not have poker machines in any clubs, hotels or sporting venues. As such, the area has one of the lowest rates of problem gambling in the country. In Western Australia, poker machine are only found in casinos.
This echoes the example set by other countries around the world, where high-risk gambling is only allowed to take place in licensed casinos and gambling venues. Since there are no pokies in clubs, owners have done without the revenue that could have potentially been generated by these machines. As such, they have found other ways to earn profits. One popular solution is fundraising.
According to the report, clubs across Western Australia have volunteers who work very hard to raise money for their causes. The Western Australia Football League, for example, holds fundraisers every year, generating over $2 million in funds for the organization. While Clubs across the rest of the country are fighting hard against pokie reform, they should use Western Australia as an example.
Fundraising and looking to other sources of revenue would be beneficial in helping them become less reliant on poker machine revenue.