We should reduce the social harm from gambling and ensure community groups don’t need to rely on gambling revenue.
Gambling legislation and regulation should focus on harm minimisation
- The most harmful forms of gambling, like pokie machines, should be regulated. Fundraising raffles and workplace sweepstakes are not a problem.
- Gambling turnover should be levied, with all revenue going to independent problem gambling support and related social services.
- The Minister of Racing position should be eliminated, and their functions given to the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Communities should be able to choose not to have harmful gambling in their neighbourhoods
- Local communities should be able to vote on the renewal of gambling licences, when they come up for renewal.
- Councils should have the power to ban pokie machines in their districts, in consultation with residents.
- No new casino licences should be granted, including expansions of existing licences.
- Harmful forms of gambling should not be advertised.
Community groups should have access to a range of funding sources
- Casinos and gaming machine venues should be required to distribute a percentage of their profits to the wider community through transparent and publicly accountable funding distribution processes.
- A transitional fund should be established to provide community groups with new types of funding, as pub pokie revenue reduces in line with the number of machines reducing.
- Political parties should not be funded from harmful gambling revenues.
