Local ACT organisations united for a Canberra that puts people before gambling profits.
Gambling harm in Canberra is not an accident. It's the result of an industry that designs products to cause it.
The ACT now has a chance to change that.
Poker machines in the ACT spin faster, offer fewer breaks, and place no meaningful limits on losses. These are not oversights. They are deliberate design choices, because the industry's revenue depends entirely on people losing money. The same logic drives sports betting apps built to follow you everywhere, sending personalised offers at moments designed to maximise the chance you'll act on impulse.
The ACT has no mandatory betting caps, no pre-commitment requirements, and machines can operate through the night when evidence shows harm is highest. Venues aren't even required to report how much their customers lose. Weak regulation isn't an accident. It's the result of an industry with more influence over policy than the people it harms.
Community sponsorships and club contributions are presented as generosity. They are also a strategy, funding the very organisations best placed to push back and making reform feel like an attack on sport and community. A system designed to look like goodwill is really a mechanism for avoiding accountability.
Canberrans believe poker machines do more harm than good for the community
Australians want to see less advertising for gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food
Here is what we are calling for
Gambling harm deserves the same serious public health attention we give to alcohol and tobacco. We are calling for a properly resourced public health strategy led by the Gambling and Racing Commission, strengthened transparency in how the Gambling Mitigation Fund is distributed, and meaningful inclusion of people with lived experience of gambling harm in policy development.
Community clubs should be supported to build sustainable futures that don't depend on poker machine revenue. We are calling for genuine government incentives for venues to go pokie free, development support tied to the surrender of gaming licences, and a legislated reduction from 3,500 to 2,000 poker machine licences by 2028.
Canberrans have a right to know what harm is being caused in their community. We are calling for annual public reporting of financial losses by venue, the number of people self-excluded, and the outcomes of compliance audits at every gambling venue in the ACT.
Poker machines should be held to the same standards we apply to other products that carry risk of harm. We are calling for mandatory daily and monthly betting limits, required pre-commitment at all venues, breaks after every hour of play, and a minimum spin rate of three seconds per game.
Evidence shows the most harmful gambling happens after midnight. We are calling on the ACT Government to honour its commitment to end poker machine operation between 1am and 10am every day.
Children and young people deserve to grow up in a community that isn't saturated with gambling promotion. We are calling for a ban on gambling advertising in local sporting venues, proactive local measures to address online gambling advertising, and strong ACT advocacy for national advertising reform.
Gambling harm is often deepest where social isolation is greatest. We are calling for government investment in genuine community connection, and sustained research into the relationship between gambling harm, loneliness, and co-occurring challenges including alcohol and other drugs.
The current scheme allows gambling venues to use community contributions to purchase social licence and compromise the independence of organisations advocating for reform. We are calling for genuine reform, including transferring contributions to a central fund managed independently, and removing the ability for clubs to count in-kind contributions toward their obligations.
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