End the harms of gambling

Victorians lost a record high of more than $3 billion on poker machines in 2025. Across all forms of gambling, Victorians lost over $7.3 billion in 2024/25. An estimated 330,000 Victorians experience harm as a result; not just financially, but through mental illness, family breakdown, domestic violence and suicide. The social cost to Victoria is estimated at $14.1 billion per year. The gambling industry profits from this harm and spends heavily to protect its right to keep inflicting it. Victorian Socialists believe an industry built on addiction and misery should not exist.

What we think

1. Poker machines and other forms of predatory gambling are deliberately designed to be addictive which means they cannot be made safe through regulation alone and should be phased out entirely.
2. The gambling industry is exploitative and socially destructive, extracting profit from addiction, financial ruin, family breakdown and suicide.
3. Where gambling cannot be immediately prohibited, it must be strictly regulated in the interests of public health.
4. The gambling industry’s political influence is a primary obstacle to reform and must be eliminated.

We’ll fight to

1. Phase out all pokies within five years.
2. Ban all gambling industry advertising (modelled on tobacco industry regulations), including sports sponsorship and online betting promotions.
3. Ban all political donations from the gambling industry.
4. Increase regulations on online betting, including mandatory deposit limits, a ban on in-play betting, prohibition of credit betting, and robust age and identity verification.
5. Mandate a gambling shutdown at Crown Casino and all licensed venues between 3am and noon.
6. Restrict the density of gambling venues in residential areas and prohibit new venues from opening near schools, community centres and public housing.
7. Introduce mandatory pre-commitment technology on all electronic gaming machines, requiring players to set binding time and spending limits before play begins.
8. Cap the maximum loss per spin on poker machines to reduce the speed and scale of losses.
9. Mandate that all gambling outlets prominently display accurate information about the real odds of winning.
10. Mandate that all commercial gambling operations maintain a standardised lifetime win/loss ledger viewable only by the gambler or registered gambling counselling services.
11. Ban gambling operators from discriminating in favour of new/lapsed customers via ’enhanced odds’, ’bet matching’, ’bonus bets’ or similar acquisition promotions.
12. Ban on ’blind box’ collectible toys (e.g. Labubu, Skullpanda) being marketed to children.
13. Redirect tax revenue from gambling to programmes addressing gambling harm, including financial counselling, mental health support and addiction treatment.
14. Significantly expand publicly funded treatment and support services for people experiencing gambling harm and their families.