Poker machines 'saturate' communities with high Indigenous populations, new research shows - Cape York Institute and Alliance condemn deliberate targeting of first nation's people by the gambling industry

Indigenous communities across Australia are being targeted by the gambling industry meaning that while access to good quality essential services like healthcare and education is scarce, there is an oversupply of poker machines.  
 
Research by The Australia Institute has found that areas of Australia with higher Indigenous populations have 50% more poker machines than other areas.

In local government areas where 10% of residents or more identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander there is one poker machine for every 99 people — compared to one for every 148 people in other areas.  

People in these areas also lose more money to pokies – almost $700 per person, compared to “just” $581 in areas where less than 10% are Indigenous.

This means that LGAs with high Indigenous populations lose over $100 more per person.

In Queensland, the disparity is even greater, with annual losses climbing to $897 per person in areas with higher Indigenous populations.

The findings follow the latest findings from the National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot which revealed 27% of First Nations Australians are experiencing gambling harm – double that of non-Indigenous Australians. 

The findings have been seized upon by the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership and the Alliance for Gambling Reform to condemn the deliberate targeting of vulnerable communities by the gambling industry.

Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, CEO, Kirstyne Davis, warned that if the gambling industry was allowed to continue to target vulnerable Aboriginal communities it would undermine Closing the Gap efforts.

"Every dollar lost to gambling is a dollar taken from the mouths of our children, from their education, and their chance of a better future. By targeting regions already struggling with low income, high unemployment and poor services, the industry deepens inequality and further entrenches families and children in cycles of harm,” she said.

“Governments themselves are addicted to gambling revenue. If they are serious about Closing the Gap, reducing suicide, incarceration, our life expectancy - currently 20 years shorter than mainstream Australia - they cannot allow powerful vice industries like gambling to profit from and contribute to such deaths of despair.”

The CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Martin Thomas, said the research indicated the gambling industry was deliberately targeting Indigenous communities and the strategy was leading to higher losses and catastrophic social harm in these communities.

“Indigenous people are highly overrepresented among the numbers of problem gamblers and this is having far reaching consequences in terms of financial harm, relationship breakdown and violence, mental health, and even suicide.”

Mr Thomas said states and territories around Australia – that are responsible for poker machine regulation – needed to do more to protect Indigenous communities. 

The Alliance is calling on all states and territories to implement a mandatory carded play system in which people must pre-set their losses before they play so they do not lose more than they can afford. 

The Australia Institute research highlighted that while an overall total of 16% of Australians live in LGAs with more than one poker machine for every 100 people, the figure is 32% for Indigenous Australians.

These highly saturated LGAs account for over a quarter of all money lost to poker machines, amounting to almost $1,000 per person each year.

 “While the high concentration of poker machines in these areas does not only affect the proportion of the population that is Indigenous, it means that stronger poker machine regulation would significantly benefit Indigenous Australians,” the discussion paper stated.

^[1] Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2024) First Nations people and the health system https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/Indigenous-australians-use-of-health-services; Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2023) Education of First Nations People https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/Indigenous-education-and-skills