The government of the Australian capital Canberra says a voluntary reduction in the number of poker machines in the city is close to hitting its target of a 20 percent decrease.
The reduction was called for to help fight gambling-related harm on gamblers and communities. Though the reduction appears to be having an effect, officials said further measures may still be needed to reduce gambling-related harm.
The Australian Parliament approved a plan to reduce the number of pokies operating in the city from about 5,000 to about 4,000. Officials announced a program for voluntary surrender of the machines that included incentives for local clubs. The program ended in January and figures show that the target amount was missed by only about a dozen machines.
However, local reports say that the removals also count licenses for machines that were not actually in use and only about 235 poker machines have truly been removed for local clubs.
