Policy brief: Options for reducing harm from Electronic Gaming Machines in Tasmania

Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs) are the most harmful form of gambling in Tasmania.

In the past 12 months, 15,400 Tasmanians who use EGMS were at risk of gambling harm and a further 16,300 Tasmanians experienced direct harm as a result of somebody else’s EGM gambling.

The total of people harmed is over 31,000. It is not a small number of Tasmanians.

On 19 November 2024, the Tasmanian Government announced that ‘a range of harm minimisation measures will be progressed to reduce the harm associated with EGMs while the Government defers progress on a mandatory pre-commitment card’, with the Premier stating that he would ‘prefer to achieve 80 per cent of something than 100 per cent of nothing’.

This paper canvasses the available options and their capacity to reduce and minimise gambling harm.