Woolworths: The Pokie People

Woolworths is the biggest operator of pokies in the country, the most damaging type of gambling to Australians.

It's been estimated that Woolworths' annual net pokie revenue is at least $1.2 billion.

Woolies generates 11.7% of its annual profit from its pokie business. They have more than 12,000 pokies across 330 venues all around Australia: far more than Star City or Crown Casino.

Woolworths is Australia's most predatory pokie business, profiting immensely through a product that is designed to addict and causes immeasurable harm to individuals, families and communities around the country every single day ...

Woolworths is the biggest operator of pokies in the country, the most damaging type of gambling to Australians.

It's been estimated that Woolworths' annual net pokie revenue is at least $1.2 billion.

Woolies generates 11.7% of its annual profit from its pokie business. They have more than 12,000 pokies across 330 venues all around Australia: far more than Star City or Crown Casino.

Woolworths is Australia's most predatory pokie business, profiting immensely through a product that is designed to addict and causes immeasurable harm to individuals, families and communities around the country every single day, all whilst labelling themselves a "family-friendly business".

We want them to stick to being "The Fresh Food People" and NOT "The Pokies People". Let's get Woolies out of pokies this year!

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ALH needs to reduce their operating hours!

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Recently, Woolworths was prompted to conduct an internal investigation after whistleblowers alleged details of staff at ALH-owned venues collecting personal information of high-turnover poker machine users in order to keep them at the venue and spending more.

Such conduct has been described by the staff interviewed by the media as indicative of a "toxic" culture at ALH venues that is driven by pokie-profits rather than a consideration of potential harm to users. At the very least, the allegations displayed irresponsible management of poker machines and consequently impacted the public's perception of ALH, Woolworths and the regulation of poker machine venues.

Poker machines represent a real source of harm to both individuals and our society as a whole. Studies indicate that for every person experiencing poker machine harm, another five-ten people are impacted. This is particularly worrisome considering the recent data released from the VCGLR which demonstrated that poker machine losses are increasing dramatically in Victoria and it's the most vulnerable socio-economic areas which are being hit the hardest.

The majority of ALH-owned poker machine venues are currently operating 20-hours a day, seven days a week in Victoria. As Reverend Tim Costello has publicly commented, "Nothing good is happening in a pokie venue at 3am." In 2010, the Productivity Commission recommended that gaming machines in hotels and clubs (not casinos) should be shut down between 2 am and 8 am, at a minimum.

In light of the Woolworths confirming that the whistleblowers' allegations are accurate, it has become clear that steps must be taken in order to reduce the increasing harm from ALH-pokie venues. Consequently, I believe that the operating hours should be limited to 10am-midnight. This would allow for 14 hours a day of operation whilst taking a serious step to curb the increasing rates of losses.

ALH has demonstrated that they are an irresponsible venue operator and have created a culture which influences staff to encourage increased losses from their most vulnerable patrons. Reducing operating hours to disallow venues to be open until 5am would significantly lower the potential for harm and improve the public's confidence in the wake of this scandal.

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