Popular retail brand Woolworths has a large stake in Australia’s gambling market. Over the course of the past few years, the company has become the operator of over 12 000 poker machines across the country. As such, Woolworths feels as though it has a responsibility in the fight against problem gambling and has proposed a solution – betting limits.
Woolworths wants the Australian federal government to consider imposing voluntary betting limits on all its machines. Players would have to use identification cards to play, choosing whether or not to set a limit on how much they can spend each session, very similar to Andrew Wilkie’s problem gambling solution. The idea was presented to the opposition’s gambling taskforce earlier this week.
The taskforce, which includes politicians and gambling officials, will review the suggestion over the course of the next few weeks. However, it doesn’t seem likely that voluntary betting limits will be considered a viable solution to problem gambling.
Andrew Wilkie’s similar problem gambling solution was recently thrown out, after the MP spent months trying to convince the public of the initiative’s efficacy; Woolworths’ plan is likely to see a similar fate.