Greater Geelong recorded its smallest monthly increase in poker machine losses this financial year, Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission data for May reveals.
According to the data, $11.16 million was lost on the municipality’s 1365 electronic gaming machines in May, an increase of $50,000 from April when $11.11 million was lost.
In March, $10.97 million was lost – $140,000 less than in April.
Monash University’s head of gambling and social determinants unit, Associate Professor Charles Livingstone, said it was too early to tell if rising costs of living would impact on pokies spending.
“[The results] may be a small ‘blip’ because of inflation, or it may indeed signal some progress on harm prevention,” he said.
“If real cost of living exceeds wage rises, we may see a continuation of this trend. However, a recession, triggering unemployment, etc, may see increased spending as people become more stressed and anxious about their future.
“Some areas may have relatively high levels of social or economic stress, triggering higher expenditure.”
Associate Professor Livingstone believes there are numerous initiatives communities can adopt to reduce gambling stigmas while simultaneously stressing the harms.
“[Avoid] unhelpful terms like ‘problem gambling’, ‘responsible gambling’ and ‘problem gamble’, [ focus] on the way EGMs are designed to be addictive, and helping increase awareness of their ability to consume significant amounts of money very quickly may be more helpful,” he said.
“Communities should also pressure local and state governments to reduce the availability of EGM gambling, through reductions in opening hours and the number of venues and EGMs within communities.”
The commission data shows that $94.86 million has been lost at Geelong’s 26 pokies venues since July 2021.
The data shows that the most money was lost at the Grovedale Hotel, with $3.57 million lost between July and December 2021.
On the Bellarine, $1.15 million was lost at the Ocean Grove Bowling Club, and $1,86 million was lost at Portarlington Golf Club during the same period.
