SOCIAL services groups say councils should have more power to reject poker machine applications as record yearly losses show Wyndham is fighting a losing battle.
Wyndham punters poured more than $88.5million into pokies in the 12 months to June, about $242,000 a day.
Data from the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) shows the average Wyndham adult lost $730 a year, well above the state average of $613.
Werribee Plaza Tavern’s 80-machine venue recorded the second-highest losses in the state ($21million), more than $260,000 on each machine.
Wyndham’s heavy losses were the eighth-highest in the state, alongside other outer-western municipalities including Brimbank, which recorded the highest losses at $145.6million.
According to recent figures from the Justice Department, 1.9per cent of gamblers in Melbourne’s west were classed as problem gamblers. About 2.6per cent were at moderate risk and 6.7per cent at low risk of becoming problem gamblers.
HealthWest project manager James Dunne said the trend of increasing pokies losses across the western suburbs meant problem gambling was on the rise.
“These people might not be defined as problem gamblers but are still likely to be experiencing many of the negative impacts of problem gambling, such as financial troubles, anxiety, stress and relationship issues.”
Mr Dunne said pokies losses and an over-representation of venues were being felt in poorer suburbs that could least afford them.
He said alarming losses across the west should prompt regulatory reform to give councils more planning clout.
“At the moment when local governments receive applications for more pokies or new venues in their local area, there is only a certain amount of power that they have to reject the applications. This rejection of applications is more often than not overturned by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which sides with the venue operator.
“The process of fighting a pokie application at VCAT is costly and even for those local governments with a strong gambling policy and a solid basis to reject an application, there is no guarantee of winning.”
Wyndham Council has fought five pokies applications at the VCGLR in the past two years, costing ratepayers a total of $75,000.
It adopted a two-year responsible gambling strategy in July, including an action plan of local research and education programs. The strategy states Wyndham will not support future pokies applications on property owned or controlled by the council and will assess the feasibility of applying higher rates to venues.
Cr Shane Bourke said the council’s previous policy had been inadequate to deal with the issue of problem gambling. The council had knocked back a number of applications for extra pokies venues, only to have decisions overturned by the VCGLR.
“As time went by it was obvious we were flogging a dead horse.”
