Australia has "disproportionate" amount of slot machines: report

Australia’s population has access to more pub and club-based slot machines than any other country in the world, according to a report from The Australia Institute.

The number of pub and club based slot machines, that is, those not found in casinos, makes up 76 percent of the world’s pub and club-based slot machines, wrote a discussion paper written by Bill Browne and Leanne Minshull.

As a whole, Australia holds 6 percent of the world’s slot machines, (not including Japan’s pachinko parlours), giving it one of the highest number of gaming machines per capita (at 123 people per gaming machine).

The report did not make any recommendations, but it did highlight a disproportionate number of gaming machines in Australia, as well as the preference for high-intensity slot machines from its population, compared to the rest of the world.

The report, released on Wednesday, comes right after an announcement from Tasmania’s labor party, which pledged to phase out pokie machines in the state by 2023 in order to reduce harm.

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