Consumers Call For Gambling Summit and Independent Gambling Commission In Response To IPART Report Into Clubs

Media Release 3/3/08

The Gambling Impact Society (NSW) is shocked at the level of bias encountered in the recently released IPART enquiry into the registered Clubs, Kate Roberts Chairperson said today “this has been an unequivocal exercise in protecting government tax revenue. Where else do you see the recommendations of public funds being spent to maintain and support the growth of an environment so closely aligned to community harm"?

Ms Roberts said "It makes a mockery of the so called “Responsible Gambling Culture in NSW". I've just returned from a major international conference on problem gambling in New Zealand where Professor Jan McMillen -(former Director of the Gambling Research Centre, ANU) was reviewing the implementation of the recommendations of the only Australian National study on gambling harm – the Productivity Inquiry 1999. Nine years later not one State has a truly independent gambling commission able to consider policy direction on gambling in a truly independent manner. This IPART Inquiry into registered Clubs highlights why one is clearly necessary in NSW. As people in New Zealand were identifying - "NSW, is just the worst of the worse". NSW attitudes to gambling and community harm is a public shame".

The IPART Inquiry into clubs was unable through it terms of reference to consider harm minimisation policy in this review as this was already being considered by other unrelated reviews. Without an independent gambling commission, Ms Roberts maintains, this ad hoc approach to gambling policy becomes an exercise in just maintaining 'business as usual". This attitude has recently been heavily criticized by academics, Charles Livingstone (Monash University) and Richard Woolley (UWS) in their recently published international gambling studies journal article which calls for increased consumer protection with regards gaming machines. Whist at the same time this IPART report recommends expanding government support to the clubs by allowing 10 free gambling machines to newly registered clubs and support of $50,000 to support club viability.

The GIS acknowledges the original role clubs played in their communities as a venue for social activity. However, the majority are now heavily dependent on poker machine gambling activity which does not promote social communication and indeed has a major impact on community harm. “It is a well known fact that all other club activities are directly funded by the 15% of regular gamblers who develop problems with gambling and provide over 44% of the gambling profits and tax revenue".

The 2008 IPART report clearly acknowledges clubs viability being dependent on gambling and that there are few interests in economic diversification when there is so much profit to be taken from such a small amount of floor space. As Ms Roberts explained, “Every poker machine earns $42,000 in profit for its owner. Others activities would find this hard to match”.

“At what cost are our drinks, meals and social get togethers at clubs costing our community in real terms. There is no open or informed dialogue in our communities about how every poker machine is ripping millions out of their community and the cost in both human and economic kind to families, individuals and the social fabric of that community. Poker machine activity itself does little to directly build social capital but the funds from those harmed by this activity is being clearly validated in this IPART report as reasonable means to an end. Our communities remain blissfully unaware of the hidden epidemic and these reports just add to the stereotyping of the so called “small number” of those affected - well it's time the community was truly informed we cannot afford to remain so ethically blind.”

Ms Roberts went on to say,” These reports are biased and continue to hoodwink our community. Our Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is calling for a decrease in State dependence on gambling revenue. Internationally NSW is held up for ridicule as the State ripping the most out of its community whilst minimising its gambling problems. There are clear indications that gaming machines are unsafe products and at minimum require the equivalent of seatbelts and airbags before use".

"It has taken years for us to truly understand the nature of tobacco harm and the amount of government and industry reluctance to address it. We are facing the same issue with problem gambling and gaming machines - yet where is the commitment to change, where are the public health models to address public concerns, where is public debate and independent policy development? We need transparent policy development -for instance no major industry submissions to the recent Gaming Machine Act 2001 review were able to be accessed publicly. We need effective governance and community consultation on this issue, not a series of ad hoc, piece meal inquiries and reports which only seem to maintain the status quo".

The Gambling Impact Society has been calling for a NSW gambling summit for the past 4 years and more recently Lea Rhiannon and NSW Greens Party have added their voice. Summits have been held on obesity in children, Drugs and Alcohol yet this call has been totally ignored.

As Kate stated," It took a kid shooting up in a back street of Redfern in NSW for us to respond to drugs. It's easy to ignore gambling harm, it's hard to see, and most people think pokies are just harmless entertainment - after all isn't that what we've been told for the past 40 years ....The Gambling Impact Society (NSW) firmly believes IT’S TIME.

Kate Roberts

Chairperson

Gambling Impact Society (NSW) Inc.

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