By Carla Jaeger and Kieran Rooney
Victoria’s long-promised pokies crackdown will include slashing punters’ spending to $100 at a time and forcing users to opt into a swipe card system, but the full reforms will not be delivered until 2027.
Details of the new laws were announced on Tuesday morning and the legislation was expected to be brought before parliament in the afternoon, more than a year after the reforms were initially promised.
Laws for pokies reforms will be introduced to Victorian parliament this week.Credit: Jason South
The new laws will reduce the maximum amount of money gamblers can put into a machine at a time from $1000 to $100, mandate a swipe card system and force most of the state’s 28,800 machines to slow down between each game.
Gaming Minister Melissa Horne said the reforms would provide important protections for poker machine players.
“Almost 30 per cent of Victorians who play gaming machines experience gambling harm. These laws will save lives and livelihoods by giving control back to patrons,” Horne said.
“Gambling harm has consequences, not just for the person gambling but for everyone around them.”
Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Minister Melissa Horne.Credit: Joe Armao
Data from the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission shows that last month alone, gamblers sunk $266.5 million into the state’s poker machines. Last financial year, losses exceeded $3 billion.
A trial of the carded play system – which will require players to set limits on how much they’re willing to lose and other information about their gambling – will begin in mid-2025 at about 40 venues.
The slate of reforms comes more than 16 months after a crackdown on gaming machines was first announced in July 2023. Then-premier Daniel Andrews claimed at the time the reforms would mean Victoria had the toughest gambling and anti-money laundering measures in Australia.
Changes to operating hours came into effect in August, forcing all gaming machine areas in all venues except Crown casino to shut between 4am and 10am.
Tim Costello, the chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Gambling reform advocate Tim Costello welcomed the proposed changes, noting the recent roadblocks in Tasmania and federally to change gambling laws.
“We know that it took a royal commission into Crown casino to order and demand reform of their predatory pokies. That was the big breakthrough. It wasn’t government [goodwill] in Victoria, it was a royal commission that delivered this,” Costello said.
Costello and gambling researcher Charles Livingstone questioned why a trial for the carded system was necessary, given the government had already implemented voluntary carded play – known as YourPlay system – across all of Victoria’s poker machines.
“The current system, the YourPlay system, could be converted into a universal, mandatory system, literally overnight. I’m a bit unclear as to what the trial is about. My sense is that it’s to placate the industry rather than for any real research purposes,” Livingstone said.
Punters sunk $266.5 million into Victoria’s gaming machines last month.Credit: Jason South
Horne said the trial was necessary to evaluate the technology.
A parliamentary inquiry last week heard the first phase of the trial would involve the use of “casual cards”, which are anonymous and not linked to users’ personal details.
Phase two, expected by the end of 2026, will remove casual cards and begin the move to personalised cards, with players to set non-binding loss limits.
Livingstone said: “The reduction in load-up from $1000 to $100 is welcome, both on harm reduction and anti-money laundering grounds. However, given that many machines can be adjusted rapidly, why is this being delayed for over a year?”
He also said the rate of slowing the machines per game was too insignificant to have any meaningful effect. He said the delays needed to be increased to at least five seconds between each spin.
Community Clubs Victoria chief executive Andrew Lloyd said his organisation supported the reforms but had concerns that there was no data provided about the effectiveness of carded play at the casino.
“Crown is just one building,” he said.
“What’s proposed is a wide area network, hundreds of venues across the state. There’s nothing like it in the world.
“We have some concerns to do with the technical capability of rolling this app successfully because the livelihood of businesses is at stake.”
Lloyd said there was no visibility about what would happen to businesses whose livelihoods were damaged by the trials.
“In NSW, there was compensation available. If there’s a country bowls club and their business is materially damaged by the trial, it could already be over the financial cliff.
“Our worry is that people aren’t appreciating that these venues underpin the local economy.”
Lloyd said he questioned the accuracy of the government’s claim that 30 per cent of Victorians who use pokies experienced harm, saying that did not match other research from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
Crown Melbourne introduced carded play in December 2023 as part of major reforms to the casino’s operations. In a statement, the company said more than 400,000 people had registered for the system over 12 months.
Crown Melbourne welcomed Tuesday’s announcement to extend the measures across Victoria.
“Our experience in developing and implementing these reforms means that we are well-placed to assist the government and industry as they work to establish a safer and more sustainable gaming environment throughout Victoria.”
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the reforms would have a relatively modest impact on the budget.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.