POKIES venues in Melbourne’s outer west spent less than half of what they were required to on charitable and community groups, a Monash University study has shown.
The report into donations from the clubs industry looked at 41 electorates in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
It found punters in the federal seat of Lalor which takes in Wyndham, Melton and parts of Hobsons Bay, lost more than $89 million during the financial year 2010-11, while venue operators gave $2,967,120 to community organisations – less than than 3.4 per cent of the region’s poker machine losses.
In Victoria, punters poured about $2.6 billion, an average of $701 per adult, into poker machines over the period. In contrast, the state’s clubs donated $62.8 million to community and charitable groups, amounting to 2.4 per cent of losses.
Gambling health expert Charles Livingstone, who led the study, said venues were required to give at least 8 per cent of pokies losses to community-benefit organisations.
He said charitable contributions in Lalor were “minuscule’ compared with profits made by clubs, and were an “extremely inefficient and high-cost method of funding community activities”. “Claims of community benefits are arguably a smokescreen to both enlist the support of those who benefit from them and deflect attention from the harm.”
Clubs Victoria executive director Richard Evans criticised the report, saying it ignored not-for-profit clubs’
investment into social and community assets.”
He said not-for-profit clubs put their pokies money into things like watering of ovals, and lighting for netball and tennis courts, “all of which are conveniently overlooked”.
Mr Evans said only 10 per cent of money raised from pokies was distributed between the government, gaming operators and venues.
“The other 90 per cent goes back to the punters. The hotels provide their 8 per cent to the government and it’s distributed broadly.”
Mr Livingstone acknowledged the study didn’t take into account “operating expenses”, which could be claimed by Victorian clubs as a community benefit.
UnitingCare Australia funded the report and is lobbying for greater consumer protection in the pokies industry after it found some of the heaviest losses were in disadvantaged areas.
