COVID prompts spike in problem gambling as Queenslanders pump billions into poker machines (2024)

Twenty-one years ago when David McAnalen entered a licensed venue with a gaming room, it wasn't unusual for him to lose thousands of dollars.

Now he enters these venues to try to make a difference as a Relationships Australia community educator skilling those who work in the clubs and pubs to have "seed-planting" conversations with gamblers.

Poker machines are of particular concern — about half the people who play the pokies regularly have a gambling problem, according to Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocateTim Costello.

Mr McAnalen said he faced an ultimatum from his family when it came to his old habits.

"I remember a very poignant moment where my father said, 'What's it going to take? For your mother and I to no longer have a family home for you to stop?'," Mr McAnalen said.

"Gambling isn't going to change, so what we need to do is to say to these people, 'Are you OK?'.

"I suffered needlessly for far too long.

"If more of that seed-planting had occurred, then I may have stopped earlier. So the more of those conversations occurring may be really helpful."

When teaching club and pub staff how to recognise someone needing help, Mr McAnalenuses anecdotes from his former life as a gambler.

He recalled when he used a $10,000 loan advanced in cash by the bank for the purchase of a car to fuel hispoker machine playing for a weekend.

The wad of cash sat under the seat in his car and when he would run out of money, he'd go out and grab a bit more for the machines.

A year on from hard COVID-19 lockdowns, during which machines were turned off for three months, he said the effects were still being felt.

"There was just a deep breath — it was a pause," he said.

Within hours of the machines being switched back on, the calls for gambling help started coming again.

Numbers tell a startling story

Queensland government gaming machine data reveals that when poker machines were turned back on in July last year after the state's three-month lockdown, Queenslanders pumped in nearly $300 million in a single month —a 31.5 per cent increase on July 2019.

Since then, poker machine earnings have been consistently higher, month on month.

Comparing 2021 with the same months in 2019, the last year of consistent "pre-COVID"data, a steady increase in losses is evident.

In January nearly $215 million was lost in machines, a 12 per cent increase on 2019.

In February loses rose by 13 per cent at $203 million, in March losses jumped 8.4 per cent at $207 million, in May the increase was 12 per cent at $225 million and in June $211 million was lost —a 10 per cent increase.

In the last 12 months $2.8 billion has been lost in Queensland's poker machines.

It marks the highest loss for a financial year since records began in 2004.

Mr McAnalen said he believedthe stress of job uncertainty, along with government COVID-19 payments, might have fuelled high rates of gambling.

"It's a comfort to go and gamble. For people with a poor relationship to gambling, they gamble for the effect. They don't gamble to win money," he said.

'Predatory' gambling industry

Central Queensland University gambling researcher Alex Russell said government welfare payments in the form of JobKeeper and JobSeeker increased discretionary spending which flowed on to gambling.

"When a lot of venues reopened, money went straight into pokies," Dr Russell said.

"Australia is a bit unusual in that we have pokies in pubs and clubs whereas most countries don't.

"So it was very easy to go to the pub, catch up with a mate and then go and spend some money on the pokies because a lot of other recreational things were not available."

Dr Russell said while there were many forms of help available for people experiencing harmful levels of gambling, by the time many people sought help they had a major problem.

"A lot of people think they have it under control and then something really bad happens and by the time they realise they need help it's already a bit too late," he said.

"Imagine there is a dangerous situation — say it's a cliff. We can put a fence at the top of the cliff to stop people falling off it, or we can let people fall off and fix them up at the bottom," he said.

"At the moment, we have an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We wait until people have problems and fix them up after."

Dr Russell said by the time a gambler gets to that point, many other people have experienced the negative impacts of the addiction.

Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate Tim Costello said Queensland leads the nation in losses, with a 20 per cent spike this year.

Reverend Costello said the Victorian government made changes that helped reduce a sudden increase in poker machine usage when venues reopened.

"The Victorian government reduced opening hours, but opening hours in Queensland are still 18 hours per day," he said.

50 per cent of pokies players'addicted'

The Victorian government, when it opened up, only allowed every second poker machine to be used.

"The [difference in] figures looks quite dramatic in terms of far less losses, far less community health issues, domestic violence, mental health issues," Reverend Costello said.

"It's less than 25 per cent of Australians that even play the pokies, but 50 per cent of those playing are addicted.

"Fifty cents of every dollar going through a poker machine comes from a person who has a problem gambling and they affect 10 other people — committing crimes, kids going hungry, mental health and domestic violence issues."

Reverend Costello also flagged issues around messaging from gambling companies.

"They're predatory when they say, 'Gamble responsibly'. It's this smarmy message of blaming the individual, like most of us are responsible and a few are irresponsible," he said.

"It's not the individual, it's the machine, it's the incentives, it's the opening hours. That's what's irresponsible and damaging to community health."

[Qld local edition teaser]

Yesterday the Queensland government announced its four-year plan to minimise gambling harm.

The Commissioner for Liquor and Gaming,Victoria Thomson,said the plan places an emphasis on industry social responsibility.

"We will only be able to achieve this through a collaborative and coordinated effort —creating safer gambling environments, that also include partnerships across sectors, venues and Gambling Help service providers," Ms Thomson said.