Time out for pokie venues to raise awareness of problem gambling

Fifteen pokie machines around Hawke's Bay will be switched off for an hour or two this week to raise awareness of problem gambling. Photo / File

Pokie machines at 15 venues in Hawke's Bay will be turned off for an hour or two this week to raise awareness of problem gambling.

The move is part of the national "Pause the Pokies" initiative which is co-ordinated by problem gambling service providers around the country.

Te Rangihaeata Oranga Trust Gambling Recovery Service general manager Vicki Berkahn said it was "good" the venues were doing so, but questioned whether this would address the "deliberate social harm that is a result of the $43 million which the Hawke's Bay community inserted into these machines in the last 12 months".

She said the Department of Internal Affairs reports that while the number of pokie machines being reduced in Hawke's Bay, expenditure is on the rise.

"Councils have policies around the number of venues and pokie machines allowable in the district. Some of them cap this number and others have adopted a 'sinking lid' approach which has seen the number of machines decline over the past few years."

However, Berkahn says they are missing the point. "Of more concern is the fact of placement of these machines in our high deprivation communities." She says 13 out of 17 gambling venues in the Hastings district are in high-deprivation communities.

These are in communities "already predisposed to factors which make them vulnerable to the allure of pokie machines".

"Factors such as disrupted whanau upbringing, alcohol and substance abuse, family violence and bullying, are known characteristics of these communities. It is not right therefore to target the placement of these machines".

Gambling Harm Awareness Week runs from September 2-8. For more information visit: https://www.pgf.nz/pause-the-pokies-2019.html