Wyndham has registered record breaking gambling expenses in a single month, peaking at more than $10 million in March, new data reveals.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) data tracks monthly net electronic gaming machine expenditure across the state.
According to the VGCCC, $10.62 million was spent on poker machines in Wyndham in March, up from $8.75 million in February.
The March spend is the highest recorded in the municipality in a single month.
Monash University’s head of gambling and social determinants unit associate professor Charles Livingstone said the increase in spending can be associated with social and economic instability.
“Many people are experiencing considerable stress at the moment, with insecure work, declining real wages, and intermittent COVID spikes,” Professor Livingstone said.
“Pokies are also distributed very disproportionately in disadvantaged communities, which are experiencing the worst of these stresses, so increased spending is understandable, if worrying.”
Professor Livingstone said high risk gambling can result in both mental and physical health issues.
“Relationships and marriages can be severely damaged resulting in separation and divorce. Significant assets can be lost… children can be very traumatised and experience ongoing harms,” he said.
“Criminal activity, including intimate partner violence, is higher in areas where there are concentrations of pokies. Loss of employment or dropping out of study is also an effect of high risk gambling.”
People addicted to gambling are made to feel very guilty, ashamed and “impose significant stigma” on themselves, Professor Livingstone said.
“Gambling is seen as a shameful habit, because the industry and government repeatedly argue that it’s only a tiny minority who get into trouble,” he said.
“Those who do must therefore be irresponsible. The industry ‘response’ to gambling harm is ‘Responsible Gambling’, which echoes this shaming-blaming concept.”
Professor Livingstone believes a much better system of harm minimisation and prevention is needed.
“We need a national system of gambling regulation, administered federally and with consistent requirements across the states and territories,” he said.
People struggling with gambling addiction can contact Gambler’s Help on 1800 858 858 or see gamblershelp.com.au for assistance.
