Research shows pre-commitment technology works
July 23, 2024
A pre-commitment system for poker machine gambling is an effective public health measure – and the benefits are on their way to Tasmania. New research from Finland adds to the growing body of evidence that it works.
The State Government and the Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission have reiterated their commitment to having a simple card-based system in place in our State by the end of 2025.
Universal pre-commitment means people can decide in advance how much they are prepared to lose on poker machine gambling.
In Tasmania, the straightforward system will allow for cashless gambling using a card pre-loaded with funds. If people don’t set their own limit, there will be automatic defaults on the card of $100 a day, $500 a month, and $5000 a year.
Pre-commitment technology has been tried and tested in a number of countries.
The Finnish government introduced a mandatory pre-commitment card for poker machines in September 2021. A recently published longitudinal study of data from that country’s gambling monopoly showed the card system had reduced harmful gambling expenditure. There had also been no switch from poker machines to other forms of gambling.
The report concluded that pre-commitment is an effective public health strategy “to tackle the wide range of harms that gambling causes for individuals, families and societies.”
Similar research published a decade earlier found that gambling harm and the number of people seeking help for gambling fell in Norway after the introduction of a cashless pre-commitment card.
Mary Bennett from Anglicare Tasmania’s Social Action and Research Centre says the Scandinavian experience points to pre-commitment being the ‘gold standard’ for addressing gambling harm.
“All Tasmanian political parties have voiced their commitment to introducing this crucial public health measure,” says Ms Bennett. “It’s a reasonable and effective reform that will significantly reduce harm while having minimal impact on people who gamble.”
Anglicare Tasmania data shows that poker machines continue to cause widespread harm in our State.
Poker machines were the main form of gambling for more than four in five people (81%) who reached out to Anglicare’s Gamblers Help service in 2023-24, which was 3% higher than the previous year.
“Gambling can have harmful effects for relationships, physical and mental health and the wellbeing and productivity of entire communities,” said Ms Bennett. Currently, around 57,000 Tasmanians are harmed by someone else’s gambling each year.
Universal pre-commitment will give all Tasmanians who gamble on poker machines a helpful tool to limit their losses and access up-to-date information about their gambling activity.
