Gaming Machines

The people of New South Wales are losing more money to poker machines than ever before, with a record $2.27 billion lost in the second quarter of 2025. Analysis from Wesley Mission provides that, in that time, the Lake Macquarie local government area lost more than $3 million every week to poker machines. On average, a single poker machine in one of our hotels makes an estimated $123,000 per year. Gaming machines earn more than the average Australian. Such unprecedented losses are shocking but unsurprising. The harm caused by gambling is well documented, as is our State's lax approach to regulating the gaming industry. New South Wales has almost 88,000 poker machines, which is more than half of the machines in all of Australia. The Audit Office's June report on the regulation of gaming machines states:

If the number of gaming machines in NSW was at the same level as the national per capita average, there would be 33,000 fewer gaming machines in NSW.

The report provides that, at the current rate of poker machine reduction, it will take 55 years for New South Wales to reach parity with the national per capita average. The failure of successive governments to crack down on the issue has harmed our communities, with broken people, families and a massive welfare tab. The New South Wales Government must do more to address the scourge of gambling addiction and harm.

I am dumbfounded that we still have to beg for decisive action to treat this blight on our communities. It consists of squandered savings and bankruptcy, of depression and suicide. It has impacts on relationships, including family breakdowns and domestic violence. It causes loss of productivity through impaired performance, job loss and absenteeism. There is the cost to our local, State and Federal governments, including to the healthcare system, not to mention crime. The social costs have been quantified in Victoria to the tune of $14.1 billion in 2023. While New South Wales has not commissioned that research, we have almost triple the number of gaming machines per 1,000 adults that Victoria has. We can reasonably assume the social costs in New South Wales are astronomical and dwarf the tax revenue that the State earns from poker machines.

It is time we stopped tinkering around the edges of reform. True change in this space requires courage and, if we are honest, some changes the gaming industry just will not like. But charitable service providers in Lake Macquarie such as Survivor's R Us, Southlake's Incorporated and myriad stalwart organisations such as the Salvation Army, St Vincent de Paul, Anglicare and others will cheer. One achievable change is repealing the outdated exemptions to the general six-hour shutdown from 4.00 a.m. to 10 a.m., which Liquor and Gaming reported in February is followed by 20 per cent of venues. With a consistent and, better yet, extended shutdown period across all venues, we have a better chance of curbing the higher risk of harm associated with late-night gambling.

While the Executive Committee of the Independent Panel on Gaming Reform recommended retaining the six-hour shutdown, some panel members supported extending the shutdown. A panel member with lived experience noted they "were much more likely to be chasing losses and overspending" when gambling during late-night hours. In their feedback on the recommendation, they went on to label the reform "low-hanging fruit" and asked, "Why is it that I can gamble later than I can purchase a beer in New South Wales?" Other panel members supporting an extended shutdown included the NSW Council of Social Service, Professor Sally Gainsbury, the Responsible Gambling Fund and Wesley Mission. The current shutdown is tokenistic and does not go far enough to address gambling harm. The staff working at clubs and pubs can all see it. I have spoken to staff members who feel trapped by the situation they are in, where they see such unnecessary suffering in the place they earn a living.

There will always be concerns that changes to an industry will impact jobs and the economy. First, I note that the shutdown of poker machines does not need to be tied to venue hours. We hope that the vibrancy laws introduced by this Government give venues an alternate stream of late-night income that is not linked to gaming. Secondly, almost half the hotels in New South Wales are poker machine free, and Western Australia limits poker machines to casinos. Venues can be successful without pokies, yet New South Wales has failed to legislate a true break in play. This State must do better than maintain the toxic status quo. The Australian Capital Territory implemented a 2.00 a.m. to 10.00 a.m. shutdown at the beginning of this year. Research supports shutting down poker machines even earlier, from midnight. Changing the shutdown period is not some radical idea: It is an evidence-based measure that can make a real difference and minimise the impact that gambling has on individuals, families, communities and the State.