Gambling the Australian way

BEFORE embarking on a reform of gaming laws, Britain should take a good look at the Australian experience.

Australia led the way in liberalising the gaming legislation seven years ago and poker machines, commonly called 'pokies', are now common in almost every pub in the country.

But while state governments reap the rewards of tens of millions of dollars in taxes, it is the public who loses out.

Australia now has the highest number of problem gamblers per capita of any country in the world. They account for around 2% of the adult population.

There is now a casino in every state capital, with the two biggest, Sydney‘s Star City and Melbourne‘s Crown Casino, bringing in thousands of mainly Asian visitors each year. These massive, 24-hour complexes house vast rooms full of poker machines, where there are no windows and no clocks, so it is difficult to keep track of time.

Experts blame the pokies for the shamefully high number of gambling addicts, a figure which has risen sharply since gaming laws were relaxed.

There are around 200,000 poker machines in Australia – more than three times the number in the whole of Europe – and around half of these are in New South Wales.

More than 80% of the population the adult population gambles away around £5bn each year. According to the Tasmanian Gaming Commission, around half of those are gambling at least once a week.

Charities say that those who can least afford it are losing up to $12,000 (£5,000) each year.