An important report detailing the economic and social costs of gambling on Tasmanian society has been released.

The Summary Report is found at, Social and Economic Impact Study of Gambling in Tasmania addressed to the Tasmanian Government Department of Treasury and Finance on December 2011.

The Mercury notes:

PROBLEM gambling costs Tasmania up to $184 million a year, dwarfing the revenue the Government receives from operators, a new report has found.

The Social and Economic Impact Study of Gambling in Tasmania says problem gamblers lose an average of $14,000 a year each the overwhelming majority being on poker machines.

But in addition to those losses, the report also details the costs of lost jobs, bankruptcy, lost productivity, crime, personal and family distress, violence, divorce, suicide attempts and treatment costs for gambling addiction.

It puts the annual cost of problem gambling to the Tasmanian community at up to $184 million a year with the cost of emotional distress on families accounting for more than $90 million of that figure.

The State Government takes in about $100 million a year in taxes and licence-fee revenue.

The report notes that 83 per cent of the money lost by moderate-risk and problem gamblers is on pokies.

Those two groups account for half the state’s gambling turnover despite representing just 2.5 per cent of the population.

The report also notes that they are concentrated in poorer areas, where gambling is more common.

Newspaper article, The real cost of pokies.

If you are still in doubt about the harm done by gambling to Tasmania see Table 6.2, page 28 of the Tasmanian Study.

I am disappointed that no significant work has been done on evaluating the $1 bet limit. This would strengthen the work of the Parliamentary Committee: $1 Bet Limit.

Yet another report on the harm of poker machine gambling on Tasmanians. Will the Tasmanian Parliament implement further harm minimisation measures to care for the more vulnerable members of our society?