Western Sydney home to two-thirds of NSW gambling losses

Anti-gambling advocates have raised concerns over problem gambling in western Sydney and how the cost-of-living crisis in the region is aggravating the situation. A recent report identified the area as contributing to almost two-thirds of total gambling losses in New South Wales.

Western Sydney University was behind the study and referred to gambling-related harm as a “silent epidemic”. The research paper also disclosed that three local government areas (LGAs) in the region were responsible for a third of the total gambling losses recorded in Sydney.

Cumberland was discovered to have a daily electronic gaming machine loss of $1.2 million, while Fairfield lost $1.7 million daily. Canterbury-Bankstown accounts for another $1.8 million.

On the other hand, Hunters Hill, Canada Bay, and Lane Cove have daily losses of only $210,000, while Mosman and North Sydney record deficits of $170,000 daily.

GambleAware Senior clinical supervisor Christopher Hunt disclosed that he was not particularly surprised by the result. GambleAware is one of the organisations in western Sydney that offer support and counselling services for problem gamblers.

Hunt also said that evidence points to the western Sydney locations having “a combination of both high areas of disadvantage, high areas of new migrants as well as high numbers of poker machines”.

The GambleAware executive explained that most times, people were driven to place gambling bets in a bid to improve their situations. This ultimately increases the number of problem gambling cases in low socio-economic regions.

“People in disadvantaged areas are more drawn to gambling because they’re suffering financial pressures, they’re looking to gambling as a way of relieving some of them,” Hunt explained.

“Given that money is oftentimes short in financially disadvantaged households, even a relatively small amount of gambling can have a disproportionate impact on the family’s bottom line.”

READ: Pauline Hanson, Jacinta Price slam NSW cashless pokies reforms

He divulged that clinics were receiving an increasing amount of people in financial distress and that problem gambling was worsening due to the cost-of-living crisis.

“So because of increasing interest rates, increasing rents, increasing food bills, people who already gamble are turning to gambling more and more, to try and make up some of the losses,” the GambleAware executive continued.

“But obviously, through that they’re experiencing greater gambling losses. So that cost-of-living pressures are really squeezing people in western Sydney right now, contributing to the gambling problem that we’re seeing.”

WSU’s study also revealed that western Sydney had more electronic gaming machines (EGMs) per person than other regions in the state. There was one EGM per 105 people in the region, while the rest of Sydney had one gaming machine per 113 people.

Tom Nance, the study’s author, revealed that the “over-saturation” of the EGMs in western Sydney was not helping issues. He added that the availability of casinos on almost every corner would increase the chances of people experiencing gambling-related harm in the region.

“It’s not about an individual necessarily making bad choices. It’s about structural things such as socio-economic disadvantage, such as over-saturation of electronic gaming machines, such as, a lack of arts, culture and leisure opportunities in western Sydney compared to the rest of Sydney that actually contributes to this,” Nance said.

Jihad Dib, Lakemba MP, talked about the cost of living crisis and how the state of things worried him. He explained that the increase in interest rates and budgets added a strain on the already struggling budgets of numerous families.

“I can’t profess to know the reasoning behind someone’s gambling decisions; however, it’s worth considering whether someone under financial pressure may take this risk because they see a potential win as a quick financial solution,” Dib added.

The issue of gambling and poker machines has become a major topic in New South Wales ahead of the March election. Premier Dominic Perrottet recently proposed a $344 million gambling reform plan that will see the implementation of cashless gaming cards.

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