The New South Wales (NSW) Government is facing calls to act after new research reported people in the Australian state lost AUS$2.17 billion (US$1.41 billion) on poker machines, or pokies, in the first 90 days of 2025.
Data from Wesley Mission, an organization of three Uniting Church groups, presented the research with Liquor and Gaming NSW. The group said action is needed to help protect people from gambling-related harm in the state.
According to the research, NSW residents are losing over $24 million on pokies machines every day.
The research also includes estimated annual losses per person by local government area. In Fairfield, annual loss per person was $3,255, while in Burwood-Strathfield, this hit $2,511.
However, Wesley Mission said as the data includes children and non-gamblers, the real toll on regular gamblers is likely higher.
“The Government is bending to the will of powerful clubs and hotel groups while everyday people and families are being financially and emotionally crushed,” Wesley Mission CEO Reverend Stu Cameron said. “This is the epitome of policy paralysis.”
“The industry is thriving, people are significantly harmed and the Government keeps talking of ‘reform’ while the damage escalates. This inaction is a gift to the industry.”
Calls for Greater Protection in NSW
Cameron referenced the upcoming Performance Audit by the NSW Audit Office. This is due to feature in Parliament on June 12 and is expected to set out areas for improvement.
Ahead of this session, Wesley Mission put forward several recommendations. These include mandatory poker machine shutdowns from midnight to 10 a.m., cashless gambling cards with enforceable harm reduction limits, and tighter caps on machine numbers in high-risk communities.
“These are not radical ideas, they are basic public health protections,” Cameron said. “If people were being harmed this severely by alcohol, drugs, or unsafe roads, the Government would act.
“Gambling should be no different. Instead, the Government does little while the industry rakes in billions.”
