Jaw-dropping figures show the true cost of gambling to Victoria has doubled to $14.1 billion in 8 years

Research showing that the costs of gambling to Victorian’s have doubled requires the government to speed up their ‘landmark reforms’ and implement mandatory carded play in all Victorian pubs and clubs urgently said Alliance for Gambling Reform CEO, Martin Thomas

The report, Social Costs of Gambling to Victoria 2023, commissioned by the government to update the previous report from 2014-15 examined both tangible and intangible costs of gambling across 2022-23 to Victoria associated with all forms of gambling.

The shocking estimated $14.1b figure includes:

• $5.2b in financial impacts such as bankruptcy
• $3.3b in costs to emotional and psychological harm including depression and suicide
• $2.5b in relationships and family costs including divorce, family violence and impacts of suicide
• $1.5 billion in productivity loss and work or study impacts
• $1.3 billion of costs to the Victorian and local governments
• $289.4 million to crime, including costs to corrections, court and police systems

• $3.2 million of costs to non-profit organisations
• $1.5 million in costs to the federal government

The report states that, aside from inflation, the higher cost mainly reflects an increase in spending by people at risk of harm compared to those who gamble without experiencing harm.

The $14.1b in costs to the community is a significant contrast to the $7.2b in revenue to industry, and $2.28 in tax revenue to the state in the same year. “Who’s really winning?”, Thomas said.

Despite the fact that only one in 10 Victorian’s play the pokies, EGMs made up $6.7 billion in costs, more than every other regulated product combined ($4.9 billion). And unsurprisingly, 67% of those using poker machines are experiencing the most severe harms. 95% are subject to some level of harm.

“These shocking figures demonstrate that then Premier Daniel Andrews understood the costs when he announced ‘landmark reforms’ in July 2023. Unfortunately, the current government seems to have taken more of an ‘underwhelming reforms’ approach, with many of the touted reforms being reconsidered, and initial timeframes being blown out by as much as 12 months”, The Alliance for Gambling Reform, CEO, Martin Thomas, said.

“Even the government’s own backbenchers are quizzing the Minister on the concerning pace of the reforms, knowing that their own communities are at risk and suffering from these outrageous harms in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Everyone is being harmed here, not just the gamblers, but their families, workplaces, and the broader community.”

Mr Thomas said, “The government knows that mandatory carded play is the gold standard for reducing harm from gambling. It has been implemented with great success at Crown Melbourne – so successfully it won them their license back.”

He said, “The trials for mandatory carded play should have already commenced but have been pushed back for six months. And the minister is now considering facial recognition technology - desperately wanted by the industry – something the previous minister said was out of the question.”

He concluded, “We all know the might of the industry and their representatives. It’s time for Labor to put their foot down and demonstrate their progressive credentials - their commitment to social justice and the people they represent, and not to industry.”

Australians are the biggest losers in the world when it comes to gambling (per capita), losing more than $31 billion a year. This is not because the Australian culture favours gambling over all others - it is because we have some of the weakest regulations and weakest protections in the world.