Media Statement
2 December 2025
4am fix welcome but harm peaks after midnight
While welcoming the long overdue revocation of 4am closure exemptions currently available to 673 NSW clubs and pubs, Wesley Mission is urging the NSW Government to go further and implement a statewide midnight to 10am pokies shutdown, citing the government’s own research that proves gamblers are at most risk in the early hours.
The revocation of existing exemptions, announced by Minister David Harris, closes long-standing loopholes that allows some venues to operate machines beyond the mandated 4am break. Wesley Mission says this is a “necessary and overdue” step that will help reduce harm but warns that evidence shows mandatory shutdowns must begin earlier to genuinely protect vulnerable people.
Given that the same 673 pubs and clubs will still be able to apply to have their exemptions reinstated, Wesley Mission says the risk is that without strong oversight, the problem simply reappears through renewed exemptions.
Government-commissioned research* shows the greatest level of gambling harm occurs after midnight, with 50% of those gambling between midnight and 2am and 65% of those gambling between 2am and 8am classified as being at high or moderate risk. Wesley Mission points to this data, alongside polling showing 78% of people in New South Wales support a midnight-to-10am shutdown, as clear justification for the next stage of reform.
Wesley Mission CEO Rev Stu Cameron says Minister Harris deserves credit for closing the 4am loophole.
“While it is good public policy and an important step, the evidence is unequivocal: harm begins peaking after midnight, not after 4am. If we want to reduce gambling harm meaningfully, shutdown hours must align with what the evidence, including the testimonies of those with lived experience of gambling harm, clearly shows.”
“The community has been insistent for a long time. Almost 80% of people in NSW want poker machines powered down from midnight to 10am. The announced reform is a welcome step however people expect and deserve changes that reflect when the real harm occurs.”
Wesley Mission says more than $1 million is lost every hour on poker machines in NSW, with losses concentrated in communities already experiencing disadvantage. The organisation is calling on the government to build on today’s announcement and strengthen protections that prevent harm before it occurs.
ENDS
Wesley Mission CEO Rev Stu Cameron is available for interview
Media contact: Anne Holt 0418 628 342 or anne.holt@wesleymission,org.au
* The Shutdown Research 2019 and Late Night Play Research 2023