Surgeons call for the prompt adoption of the recommendations of the NSW Crime Commission Inquiry into poker machines, especially the introduction of cashless cards on electronic gambling machines (EGMs).
In 2020-21, approximately $95 billion was gambled through Electronic Gambling Machines in hotels pubs and licensed clubs in New South Wales. There are almost 100,000 EGMs licensed to be used in NSW, with 86,747 of these currently available in gaming rooms. EGMs are broadly accessible from corner pubs in regional towns to large multi-venue conglomerates of registered clubs.
"Surgeons treat the downstream harm from gambling in the form of injury associated with interpersonal violence stemming from gambling losses.
"We support all the recommendations from the New South Wales Crime Commission's enquiry into poker machines and call for the prompt introduction of cashless cards on EGMs in New South Wales," said Dr John Crozier, a Sydney based vascular surgeon and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and Chair of the College's Trauma Committee.
