Who owns poker machines in Australia has long been a topic of contention, given Australians spend billions every year gambling at pubs and clubs featuring machines. While ownership might seem irrelevant at first glance, Australians spend billions every year gambling away this money at poker machines that we find across our society – the figure far outweighs what Australians spend betting on sports and horse racing combined!
Australian pub and club owners frequently understate the scale of their pokies businesses, even as profits soar. A confidential report produced by industry consultants PKF for ClubsNSW obtained by Fairfax Media shows that pokie profits in NSW pubs reached an all-time record high over $1 Million per machine last financial year – even surpassing last year’s figure!
NSW pokie profits are more than twice those of Victoria and are set to skyrocket as more players join in playing new electronic games with high-intensity rewards and potentially large jackpots.
As profits increase, so too do gambling participation rates; according to the Alliance for Gambling Reform. Director Colin Mansfield expressed concern over the growth in electronic gaming machines (EGMs). They’re highly addictive and possess large jackpots; as one expert put it.
Aristocrat Leisure is Australia’s top EGM maker. A global titan with numerous hit games like Buffalo Grand and Queen of the Nile slot machine – Aristocrat was established three years before gaming machines became legalised here!
Though Aristocrat still features legendary figures like Len Ainsworth as its founder, its key players today include veteran CEO Trevor Croker and chairman Neil Chatfield. However, Aristocrat’s reign in the pokie market has recently come under attack by US rival International Game Technology (IGT) as well as IGT Australia.
ASIC should intervene and require Woolworths, Endeavour and other major players to disclose more accurately their earnings from poker machines, in order to add some clarity and reduce harm caused by these addictive devices. This would provide much-needed transparency around a topic of great debate while mitigating potential harm caused by them.