A five year review of NSW’s electronic gaming machines (pokies) has concluded regulators aren’t focused on reducing gambling harms.
The NSW Auditor-General released its review yesterday, showing the state has the highest proportion of pokies per person in Australia.
The Government has accepted its recommendations, but said gambling reform is “complex”.
The Opposition said the report shows Labor is “failing a basic moral responsibility” to reduce gambling harm.
NSW gambling
NSW has the second-most pokies per person of any region in the world, behind the U.S. state of Nevada (home to Las Vegas).
Official data shows gambling losses on pokies in the first three months of 2025 amounted to nearly $2.2 billion.
There are 87,749 pokies in NSW, down from 100,000 in 2001. At this rate of decline, it would take 55 years for NSW to match other states and territories’ number of pokies per head.
Review
In 2019, the NSW Auditor-General began investigating how the state’s regulatory agencies are handling gambling harms such as addiction and financial losses.
Pokies are managed by the NSW Creative Industries Department and the independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.
NSW Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji released the review yesterday. He said the agencies “regulate gaming machines in a structured and consistent manner but are not supporting harm minimisation outcomes effectively”.
The review said the state has 12 pokies inspectors, who are concentrated in Greater Sydney.
It also found the current training programs don’t adequately equip staff at venues with pokies to help punters at risk of experiencing gambling losses.
Additionally, the review noted the regulators don’t have tangible targets to reduce gambling harms, which it said most acutely impact “socio-economically disadvantaged communities”.
Gambling helpline calls rose by 8.5% in 2023/24, which the Auditor-General said was evidence of the need for harm reduction targets.
One-fifth of NSW clubs and hotels have exemptions allowing them to operate pokies between the legal shutdown hours of 4-10am.
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The report said this is due to licence allowances which have been in place for 20 years without being reviewed.
Recommendations
The Auditor-General recommended the two agencies “increase the focus” on addressing gambling harms, which they have both accepted.
Other recommendations included setting real harm reduction targets, and reviewing the existing exemptions allowing venues to keep pokies available during the shutdown.
Govt remarks
The NSW Government said it “welcomed” the report and noted the agencies had adopted the recommendations.
In a statement, Gaming Minister David Harris said the review covered a period “largely under the former Coalition Government”.
He pointed to Labor’s reforms since winning government in 2023, including banning gambling ads on public transport.
Reaction
Wesley Mission CEO Reverend Stu Cameron said the review revealed failures of “successive governments” to meaningfully address gambling harm.
The Government is yet to respond to a separate report, delivered in November 2024, recommending “account-based” gaming, meaning people wouldn't be able to gamble anonymously.
“This inaction privileges the special pleading of a harmful and predatory industry over and above the health and wellbeing of the people of New South Wales,” Cameron said.
Political response
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman called the review an “indictment” on Labor’s approach to gambling reform.
“A handful of announcements since the election... amount to lipstick on a pig,” Speakman told reporters.
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann urged the government to bring in stricter pokie reforms.
“This is a multi-billion dollar industry, fuelling addiction, financial hardship and ill mental health,” she said in a statement.
