August 12th, 2024Regional Victorians pour record billions into the pokies
In the Hepburn Shire LGA alone a total $13,883,548 was poured into the pokies for the 23-24 financial year, the latest Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission figures show.
Statewide, regional Victorians poured a massive $692 million into poker machines in the 2023-24 financial year, the biggest regional spend on the machines ever recorded by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission.
At a per capita level, the amount poured into the pokies in Hepburn shire equated to $249 per person, while in the City of Ballarat LGA the rate worked out at $538 per head of the population.
The number of machines in the Hepburn Shire local government area is 167 while in the neighbouring local government area of Macedon Ranges Shire the number of poker machines is 103.
In the Macedon Ranges Shire LGA a total $9,695,883 was fed into the pokies in the 23-24 financial year, equating to a spending rate of $183 per capita.
Geelong – which has the most pokies of any LGA in the state – poured $136 million into the machines, the largest amount for any regional LGA, while Ballarat was the second biggest pokies spender in regional Victoria.
Victoria-wide amount fed into gaming machines topped a record $3 billion for the financial year, and the findings in regional Victoria come despite nine regional local government areas having no pokies.
Taking those nine pokie-free LGAs into account, the commission’s figures show that country Victorians spent more per capita than Melbourne residents, with an average $557 fed into the pokies compared to $548 in metro Melbourne.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission data shows that Ballarat gamblers were feeding nearly $174,000 a day into the machines over the past year, pouring $63,550,282.39 all up into the pokies over the 23-24 financial year.
And the commission’s number crunching shows that despite its larger population, Greater City of Bendigo gamblers fed $58,668,802.26 into the gaming machines in the same period – $5 million less than Ballarat.
Coastal Warrnambool notched up the highest comparative per capita spend rate for any regional LGA, pouring the equivalent of $646 into the pokies for each one of its 35,907 residents.
Of course, it needs be noted that in actuality, a much smaller number of people would have accounted for the millions of dollars in losses.
All up a total $23.2 million was spent on Warrnambool poker machines in 2023-24, an all-time record for the coastal location the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission figures show.
If you’re struggling with gambling addiction, contact Gambler’s Help on 1800 858 858 or visit the website.
Words: Eve Lamb. Image: Supplied
