Page 5524 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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gaming machines, noting that the money will then go to a central problem gambling assistance fund.
There is no doubt that problem gambling is a significant issue in our community. The 2010 Productivity Commission report into gambling estimated that between 80,000 and 160,000 adults in Australia suffer significant problems from gambling. In the territory, a 2001 study found that approximately 5,300 people were problem gamblers. Lifeline in Canberra has also indicated that since 1999 consistently over 70 per cent of its clients have gambling problems primarily or only with gaming machines.
The Productivity Commission also estimated that problem gamblers contributed between 22 and 60 per cent of total spending on gaming machines. Based on this finding, problem gamblers contributed between $38 million and $103.7 million out of the total $172.8 million in gross gaming machine revenue in the ACT in the 2009-10 financial year. To put this another way, applying the findings of the Productivity Commission to the ACT context shows that problem gamblers lost between $38 million and $103 million on gaming machines in the ACT in 2009-10. I think we all agree that these are alarming figures.
I have previously stated on the public record that it is my personal view that there are too many gaming machines in the ACT. Further, I believe future reforms in this area should seek to reduce the overall number of machines in the territory and encourage clubs to contribute a greater level of gaming machine revenue back to the community. As I am sure members would be aware, I have been in discussion with the club sector for several months with the aim of developing a suitable package of reforms. However, a recent federal intervention in this area has significantly increased the operational uncertainty for both governments and gaming machine operators.
Prime Minister Gillard and the member for Denison, Andrew Wilkie, signed an agreement in September this year that, among other things, committed the parties to implementing significant gaming machine reforms across all states and territories. I attended the inaugural meeting of the Council of Australian Governments select council on gambling reform in Melbourne on 22 October this year. The council agreed to the formation of working groups that will provide advice on the best methods for delivering a national pre-commitment strategy, ATM withdrawal limits, dynamic warnings and cost-of-play displays.
Pre-commitment technology will give players the ability to set spending or time limits for each playing session. This will give players a substantially increased ability to control their overall spending on gaming machines and may be of assistance to those that suffer problems due to their gambling. Research shows a clear link between problem gambling and access to cash, such as from ATMs. Problem gamblers are more likely to use ATMs to withdraw cash than other gamblers and, in general, withdraw larger sums of money. The Productivity Commission recommended that a daily limit of $250 on withdrawals from ATMs could help address gambling harms without overly affecting non-problem gamblers and other patrons.
Dynamic warnings will provide players with periodic on-screen displays of information and warnings during their sessions. On-screen cost-of-play displays will
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