About 70 per cent of people in Victoria gamble, and 1 in 5 people gamble online. The most popular types of gambling are electronic gaming machines (pokies), sports and race betting, lotteries, casino games, and bingo. Currently, there are 431 gaming machines across 6 venues in Whitehorse.

Everyday Whitehorse residents lose an average of $153,738 on poker machines. In 2022/23 this totalled more than $56 million for the year. This figure does not include other forms of gambling or online gambling.

One in five Victorians who gamble experience harm from gambling. This harm can affect not only the person gambling but also those close to them. For example, high-risk gambling may affect up to six other people.

The harms linked to gambling include:

• Financial problems
• Lost productivity loss and work problems
• Relationship difficulties
• Family violence
• Emotional and psychological distress
• Health problems
• Crime
• Alcohol and drug use
• Self-harm and suicide

Younger people (18–24 year olds) and older people (55-65 year olds) are most at risk of experiencing gambling harm. Men are also at a higher risk compared to women.

Australians gamble online 20 per cent more than any country in the world, and online gambling has become much more common in the last decade.

Online gambling poses a higher risk of lifelong gambling issues and gambling on e-sports and fantasy sports, in particular, lead to much higher levels of harm than other forms of gambling.

A clear link has been established between increased gambling advertising and increased prevalence of gambling. In the last decade, the amount of gambling advertising has increased by over 220 per cent. On average there are 948 gambling advertisements per day on free-to-air television in Victoria.

Children are particularly vulnerable to gambling advertising, with 1 in 4 children in Victoria able to name four or more gambling brands.

Gambling is regulated at a State Government level by the Victorian Gambling & Casino Control Commission. The Commission is responsible for the licensing of the gambling industry.

Gambling advertising is regulated at a Federal Government level by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

Local government has a statutory obligation to:

• Assess planning permit applications to install or use electronic gaming machines against the planning provisions in the Whitehorse Planning Scheme and the Planning and Environment Act 1987

• Assess potential social and economic impacts of applications for a gaming licence in the municipality or adjoining municipality in accordance with the Gambling Regulation Act 2003 and, if required, make a submission on behalf of the community to the Victorian Gambling & Casino Control Commission.

Council also has broader statutory roles under the Local Government Act 1989 and Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008. These focus on promoting and protecting the health and wellbeing of the community.

Council’s existing gambling policy is more than a decade old and a lot has changed since its adoption, including legislative reforms and a key shift in best practice.

The current 'responsible gambling policy' focuses on personal responsibility. However, gambling experts and many councils are shifting away from this model. They prefer a public health approach, which sees gambling harm as caused by harmful products, not individuals, and emphasises both prevention and harm reduction.

The current policy is also limited in scope. While it is called a gambling policy, it only refers to gaming machines (also known as EGMs). Currently there are no policy positions around online or sports gambling.

Lastly, Council’s benchmarking and research has identified a number of policy-specific issues where the current gambling policy could be strengthened.

The draft policy outlines our new approach, which focuses on reducing the economic, social and health harms associated with electronic gaming machines and other forms of gambling.

It aims to help minimise gambling harm by:

• ensuring Council remains financially independent from the gambling industry

• preventing increases in gambling opportunities within the local area

• minimising exposure to gambling promotion on Council owned land and buildings.

This will be achieved through community development initiatives, research and engagement, land-use planning, Council assets and infrastructure, funding and support, and advocacy.

The draft policy primarily focuses on electronic gaming machines. This is because Council has a legislated role as:

• the Planning Authority responsible for issuing planning permits to gaming venues

• a Referral Agency to make a submission to the Victorian Gambling & Casino Control Commission in response to a new or revised gaming licence application.

The secondary focus of the draft policy is on the negative impacts of online gambling and sports betting. While the levels of harm from online gambling and sports betting are lower than those caused by electronic gaming machines, the level of participation in this form of gambling is growing rapidly.

Some policy positions, for example collaborating with gambling support services on awareness raising initiatives about gambling-related harms, will apply to other forms of gambling too (e.g. race betting, casino games, etc.). However, for the purpose of this policy, raffles, bingo, and sports tipping for fundraising activities that only require a minor gaming permit are exempt.

Whitehorse City Council has two policies that relate to gambling:

• 2011 Responsible Gambling Policy (the focus of this current review)

• Gaming Local Planning Policy which forms part of the Whitehorse Planning Scheme and is a statutory document.

The Gaming Local Planning Policy aims to ensure that the operation, location and design of gaming premises does not have a negative impact on the local area and includes two key policy statements, specifically that:

• Council will not allow electronic gaming machines on Council owned or managed land.

• Proposals for new gaming premises are to include a range of non-gambling entertainment and recreation activities.

Clause 52.28 of the Victorian Planning Provisions also prohibits electronic gaming machines in designated shopping complexes and all strip shopping centres.

We heard from community and key stakeholders during the first round of our gambling policy review that some policy clauses' impacts were not well understood and required further explanation. To help explain these parts better, we added examples. If you want more details about any other parts of the policy, please email us at ryan.hood@whitehorse.vic.gov.au