Ignoring the evidence: an opinion piece by Chris Jones
January 29, 2026
The Tasmanian Government is choosing to ignore the evidence on reducing poker machine harm – and our community continues to pay a heavy price.
In 2024, the government engaged Deloitte to assess the economic and social impacts of introducing a universal pre-commitment card system for poker machines. This reform, announced by the Liberal government in 2022, had been widely hailed as ‘nation-leading’ and ‘gold standard’, including by Anglicare Tasmania.
Shortly after contracting Deloitte to carry out the study, the government deferred further progress on the reform. It didn’t wait for the independent analysis it had commissioned.
Now the government has finally released Deloitte’s report which confirms that the planned pre-commitment card system would have reduced harm and had significant economic benefits for our State.
It was also blunt about the ongoing harmful impacts of gambling, noting that poker machines are more heavily concentrated in communities with high levels of socio-economic disadvantage:
“The harm of gambling is not only borne by players and their communities but society as a whole.
Gambling related crimes, such as fraud and theft, impose significant costs on justice and social systems, as individuals seek to fund their gambling habits. At the same time, businesses and the broader economy bear the costs of reduced labour productivity due to absenteeism, job loss, and diminished work performance among problem gamblers. These cumulative impacts make gambling not just a personal issue but a societal challenge, necessitating comprehensive measures to mitigate its harm”.
(Deloitte Access Economics)
Tasmanians are still waiting for a government with the courage to respond to this challenge and act in the best interests of our State.
Deloitte’s modelling showed the deferred reform would have resulted in:
- a meaningful reduction in gambling-related harm, particularly among problem gamblers, moderate-risk gamblers and their communities;
- decreased demand for public health and social support services;
- decreased costs for justice and policing;
- improved productivity;
- overall improvements in community wellbeing;
- a $153-$240 million increase in Gross State Product (GSP); and
- lifted the State’s net employment by 126-238 jobs.
The card system would have reduced the revenue of poker machine venues, but Deloitte said this would be “more than offset by increases in activity and employment in other sectors”. This growth would have included expansion of the Accommodation, Food and Recreation Services industry.
The Deloitte study confirms what Anglicare has been raising with governments for many years. We have described the real costs to people, the benefits of a pre-commitment card system, and compared the effectiveness of different harm minimisation measures.
Last year, Tasmanians lost over $201 million to poker machine gambling. Deloitte says the promised reform – now stalled – would have cut gambling expenditure by 23%-46%. Without this change, we’re missing out on better outcomes for individuals, families and communities – as well as the State’s economy.
The proof is clear that mandatory pre-commitment is the right reform for Tasmania. What we need is a government that will act on the evidence.
