Northern Beaches locals for a future without gambling harm
$108M
The Profit from Pokies in Clubs on the Northern Beaches each year.
(Source: NSW Government Gaming Machine Yearly Report for the period 1 September 2024 - 31 August 2025)
1,660
The number of Poker Machines in the Northern Beaches in FY2024-2025 across 24 premises
(Source: NSW Government Gaming Machine Yearly Report for the period 1 September 2024 - 31 August 2025)
$32bn
Australians lost more than $32 billion to gambling in 2022–23, the highest per capita losses in the world
(Source: National Gambling Prevalence Study Pilot study 2024 by the Australian Gambling Research Centre)
It's time for a hard conversation about gambling harm in the Northern Beaches
Addiction doesn't discriminate. The Northern Beaches may be a well off area, but it doesn't make people immune from addiction, loneliness or financial problems.
Over $2 million a week is lost on the pokies in the Northern Beaches. That's a Northern Beaches house gambled every week. Imagine if this money was instead being spent on local businesses, families spending this on food, education and health, or being spent to benefit the community. Most pokies revenue is re-invested into the club or business. Only 8% on average is returned to the community through Club Grants and sponsorships.
We don't hate pubs and clubs. They're places people have fun and provide social connection. They support local sporting clubs through donations. But it's time to have a hard conversation that these good things are being paid for by people with gambling addiction, and the real cost to the broader community of gambling harm.
Gambling harm hurts the whole community. People whose partners gamble weekly are at greater risk of experiencing intimate partner violence.
People experiencing gambling harm are some of our most vulnerable community members. Gambling can cause people to lose their jobs, families, businesses, and homes. 66% of high-risk gamblers experienced financial hardship (e.g. going without meals) and 68% of high-risk gamblers experienced cognitive, behavioural or mental health conditions.
We have a pokies problem. Did you know that 76% of the worlds poker machines located in clubs and pubs are in Australia? 50% of those are in NSW. The odds in Australian gaming machines are also stacked to give greater losses to gamblers.
But it doesn't have to be this way. Local Pubs and clubs choose to have poker machines to raise revenue, but many pubs and clubs in Australia and around the world have thriving businesses and communities, by providing entertainment and activities that don't revolve around the pokies or gambling. We don't have to accept gambling harm as normal or usual.
