The ACT Government's new poker-machine cap will still leave Canberra with more poker machines per adult than any state or territory other than NSW, despite Gaming Minister Joy Burch claiming the move as the "biggest reduction in gaming machines numbers in history".
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The government has abandoned its target of 4000 poker machines across the city in favour of a ratio of 15 machines for every 1000 people, with the number rising alongside the population.
In the most recent national figures, for 2012-13, Canberra had 4974 poker machines, a ratio of 17 per 1000 people, in line with NSW but well ahead of any other state or territory.
Victoria has six machines per 1000 people and Queensland 13. The Australian average is 11.1 machines per 1000 people. If the ACT was to match the national average, it would have to cut machine numbers by about 1700.
In 2012, then deputy chief minister Andrew Barr said there were too many gaming machines in Canberra, with a clear link between access to poker machines and problem gambling. He was justifying the plan to reduce numbers to 4000 over time. But in October 2014, Ms Burch announced the scrapping of the 4000 target in favour of the ratio.
She plans to introduce legislation in March to set the new target and allow clubs to trade machines between them. To date, it has been illegal to sell machines between clubs groups, which Ms Burch said was a disincentive for small clubs to reduce numbers because they couldn't sell them. Under the trading system, one machine will be taken off the floor for every four sold.
The new ratio of 15 machines per 1000 adults is to take effect three years after the scheme begins. Assuming a start date of mid-2018, government figures suggest an adult population of 319,000, allowing 4785 machines, or 189 less than current numbers.
Ms Burch said there had been no mechanism to achieve the 4000 target, whereas the new scheme gave some certainty to clubs. The new ratio would mean Canberra had fewer machines per capita than NSW.
But Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce chairman Tim Costello rejected the idea that Canberra should base its number on NSW.
"NSW has the most poker machines of anywhere in the world," he said "Ten per cent of the world's poker machines are in NSW, so the ACT being almost on a par is just socially devastating. It's a complete failure by the ACT Government to allow that level of what is not just a social recreation but dangerous machines."
The industry's World Count of Gaming Machines shows the ACT and NSW among world leaders in the number of machines per capita. Of 49 European countries, only Monaco has more gaming machines per capita. Of 72 states across Canada, the United States and Australia, only four US states have a higher number of machines per capita than NSW and the ACT.
