More whistleblower complaints charging that staff at pubs owned by ALH Woolworth in Australia spied on gamblers to develop strategies to maximize their losses at poker machines—called pokies—have emerged.
One of the new charges came from a whistleblower who worked at a Brisbane pub run by the ALH Group. The complaint said staff meetings were regularly held there to discuss how to encourage a grieving woman to gamble away her inheritance money after the death of her parents, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
This comes after Independent MP Andrew Wilkie revealed another complaint in Parliament charging that the company used staff to gather personal information from high turnover gamblers to encourage “increased gambling” in pubs it owns. Another whistleblower, who had also worked in ALH venues around Brisbane, outlined how pub staff gave free alcohol to gamblers as a deliberate strategy to encourage prolonged gambling, according to the Herald’s report.
The reports prompted the Queensland’s Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation to launch an investigation. The regulator told the paper its investigation was under way, and it was examining the latest allegations.
“The Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation’s investigations into concerns raised regarding responsible gambling practices at ALH venues are ongoing and include investigations of recent concerns raised,” a spokeswoman told the paper.
According to the Herald, the $1.5 billion ALH Group—the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group—owns hundreds of pubs throughout Australia. It is the country’s largest provider of pokies, with more than 12,000 poker machines in its venues.
Wilkie, the MP who first disclosed the complaints, also told the paper that leadership of ALH and Woolworth’s appeared to be split on how to respond to the allegations.
Wilkie said he contacted Woolworths chairman Gordon Cairns on Monday to advise him of the new complaint involving the grieving gamblers. He said he believed Cairns was genuinely shocked by the complaint and appeared ready to reform the company’s practices.
Wilkie said he has also received complaints from whistleblowers from ALH pubs in the Northern Territory, Queensland, NSW, Victoria and Tasmania about aggressive gambling practices.
However, Wilkie said he believes the Woolworths board was more committed to reforming its practices than the senior management of the ALH Group, which is 75 percent owned by Woolworths, and 25 percent owned by Bruce Mathieson.
An earlier report by the Herald said some ALH board members had opposed the company’s eventual appointment of independent internal review of the matter, which required appointing legal and accounting firms to conduct the investigation. Instead the board members wanted to expand an existing review already underway.
Ultimately, the companies did vote to start a new investigation under the advice of their legal team, the paper reported.
