Presented at the 6th International Gambling Conference in February 2016. Presented by Rosa Billi, Paul Marden

1. EGM gambling findings from
the 2014 Victorian
prevalence study-
the pattern continues…………
Rosa Billi
Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
Paul Marden
Victorian Department of Justice & Regulation
International Gambling Conference
February 2016
Auckland, New Zealand

2. Presentation overview
• Introduction
• Methodology
• Survey questions
• Background
– EGM numbers in Vic
– EGM losses in Vic
• Findings – frequency of play PG and MR
• The story in a nutshell

3. Introduction
“Mental disorders are not randomly
distributed throughout populations. To a
degree they follow existing lines of structural
inequality and disadvantage, both between
and within societies.”
President’s Address
World Federation of Mental Health
(then) Dr Max Wenden Abbott 1993

4. Prevalence study
• A Study of Gambling
and Health in Victoria
• Sarah Hare of
Schottler Consulting
• Funded by the
Department of Justice
and Regulation and
the foundation
Page 4

5. Methodology
• n=13,554 Victorian adults (18+)
• CATI
• RDD
– Dual frame
• 1,003 mobile (numbers not able to be linked to specific
geographic regions)
• 12,551 landline
• 70/20/10 oversampling
• Stratified by DHS regions
• Multilingual interviews for Mandarin, Cantonese,
Italian and Greek.

6. Methodology
• In field June to November 2014
• Sub sampling
– 1/10 NPG and NG.
– 1/4 LR
– 10/10 PG MR
• Response rates
– landline 68.46%
– mobile 68.22%

7. Survey questions
• Gambling activity and
participation
• PGSI
• Harms (self, others)
• Gambling money
management
• EFTPOS use/withdrawal
• Pre-commitment
• Casino loyalty club
• Unrestricted EGMS at
casino
• Casino VIP gaming area
use
• Helps seeking behaviours
• GP visits
• Diagnosis of depression,
anxiety
• Alcohol use during
gambling
• Venue based gambling
• Demographics

8. Background
EGM numbers in Victoria
• 1992
– EGMS introduced into Victoria
• 1998
– a total 27,500 EGMs were capped for hotels and clubs
– and additional 2500 for casino
• 2014
– Cap on EGM numbers for hotels and clubs to 27,372
– plus a total of 2628 approved for the casino
• EGM numbers have remained unchanged since 1998
– Still 30,000
EGM participation has decreased 2002-2014
• There has been a gradual decline in real EGM expenditure
2002-2014

9. Background
EGM losses 1999-00 to 2014-15

10. Findings
• Prevalence estimate PG 0.81%
– 2008 prevalence estimate was 0.7%
– not statistically significant
– translates to 35,500 Victorians
• Prevalence estimate of LR increased from 5.7% (2008)
to 8.91%
– equates to 391,000 Victorians
– linked to increase in LR gambling in women

11. Findings - Harm
•An estimated 2.8 % of the Victorian adult population
reported experiencing problems because of
someone else’s gambling in the past 12 months –
this amounts to approximately 122,500 adults.
•This roughly equates to about 3-4 people affected
from someone else’s gambling
•First time we asked this question in prevalence
study
(q13_1. In the last 12 months, have you experienced problems because of someone else’s gambling?
Yes, no, DK, Refused)

12. Findings 2008-2014
• Participation in gambling decreased
– Non-gamblers increased from 27% to 30%
• Participation in EGM gambling declined from 21.5% to
16.8%
• Participation in racing increased from16.4% to 20.6%
(Spring racing carnival question change)
• Participation in sports & events betting increased 4% to
4.8%, however…….
– rates consistently remain much lower rates than other gambling
activities
– increase almost exclusively in males
* percentages to nearest decimal point

13. Findings 2008-2014
Frequency of play - problem gamblers
•wagering (races) (played on average 67 times per year in
2008 and 204 times per year in 2014)
•gaming machines (played an average of 56 times in 2008,
in 2014 the average was 88 times)
•table games (played an average of 31 times in 2008, in
2014 the average was 59 times).
All results are significant

14. Findings 2008-2014
Frequency of play – moderate risk gamblers
•wagering (races) and table games (no statistically
significant change)
•gaming machines (played an average of 23 times in 2008,
in 2014 the average was 86 times)
•Lotto, powerball or pools (played an average of 28 times in
2008, in 2014 the average was 74 times).
All results are significant

15. Findings 2008-2014
EFTPOS– problem gamblers
Since 1 July 2012, ATMs have been banned from gaming venues in Victoria
•Withdrawals from EFTPOS per gambling session by gaming machine players
related directly to PGSI risk level
PGSI Category Average EFTPOS usage
per session
NPG 0.14
LR 0.98
MR 1.55
PG 3.46
Total Gaming Machine Players 1.22

16. Gaming machine players –
where are they?
Year Mean estimated
resident
population 18
years plus
Victoria (million)
(ABS)
Participation rate
in gaming
machines
(Victorian
prevalence reports
by sample year)
Estimated
number of
Victorian adult
residents playing
gaming machines
2002-03 3.695 33.5% 1,238,000
2007-08 4.021 21.5% 864,500
2013-14 4.521 16.7% 756,815

17. The story in a nutshell…
Victoria and Gaming
machines
• Decline in the number of gaming machine players since 2002-03 to 2013-14
with a 39 per cent decline
• Over the same period, real expenditure on gaming machines has declined
by over 19 per cent
• Fewer gaming machine players account for current expenditure levels
• 2015 prevalence study shows that:
– MR and PG who play gaming machines play them more often than they did in 2008,
that they withdraw more often from EFTPOS facilities at the venues than other gaming
machine players
– proportion of all MR (39%) and PG (51%) gamblers who state gaming machines are
their highest spend activity is higher than on any other form of gambling

18. The story in a nutshell…
Victoria and Gaming
machines
So what does this mean?.....
I leave you with this thought……….
“Mental disorders are not randomly
distributed throughout populations. To a
degree they follow existing lines of structural
inequality and disadvantage, both between
and within societies.”
Max Abbott 1993

19. The study
Joint funding
•The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation
•Department of Justice and Regulation, Victoria
Acknowledgments
•Participants
•Schottler Consulting
•Paul Marden (who was unable to be at the IGC)