Greek-Australian Mayor of Monash Paul Kliisaris has urged the Victorian Government to introduce stronger safeguards for gambling addicts, condemning what he described as a failure to protect vulnerable members of the community.
His comments come after public backlash over changes to Victoria’s planned cashless gaming trial across venues with poker machines (“pokies”) in the municipalities of Monash, Greater Dandenong and Ballarat.
In late July, State Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Enver Erdogan announced that the pilot would run from September to November 2025 across 43 venues equipped with electronic gaming machines (EGMs).
Under the plan, players must register for a YourPlay card, which tracks how much time and money they spend on pokies.
Initially, the government said the cards would require players to set mandatory loss limits before playing. However, as reported this week by journalist Costa Haritos (ABC News), the trial’s scope was quietly changed, the limits are now optional, not compulsory.
Similarly, The Age‘s Chip Le Grand noted that wording on official documents shifted from “will need to set loss limits” to “can set loss limits”. Government sources later told the media this was “an innocent drafting error” and that compulsory pre-commitment “was never intended” during the pilot.
“This is exploitation, not recreation”
Mayor Klisaris told Neos Kosmos that this backflip is unacceptable.
“This is not entertainment, it’s the exploitation of people who are addicted to gambling,” he said.
“The government must legislate stronger measures, just as it did with Crown Casino.”
While no local data exist on the specific impact of gambling within Monash’s Greek community, Klisaris said his own experience suggests “many members of the diaspora are victims of this scourge.”
“The State has a duty to protect them,” he stressed.
Speaking separately to ABC News, Klisaris added:
“We are disappointed the Victorian Government did not include mandatory and binding loss limits in their trial, and we do not support it given this omission. We want to see the reversal of the state government’s position on the card and how it’s implemented.”
Millions lost in Monash alone
According to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC), Monash residents lost $126 million on the municipality’s 955 pokies during the 2024-25 financial year – the third-highest loss in the state.
Across Victoria, total pokies losses reached a record $3.14 billion last year. The three councils participating in the trial account for more than 10 per cent of that figure.
Divided council responses
Ballarat Mayor Tracey Hargreaves said she still welcomes the trial but was “disappointed” the compulsory element was dropped, calling it ” missed opportunity to gather meaningful early insights into the potential harm-prevention benefits of mandatory carded play”.
Greater Dandenong Council recently voted to continue supporting the pilot. Mayor Jim Memeti said this would allow the municipality “to better influence the outcomes of the trial, including binding limits being set as soon as possible.”
His municipality hosts 928 machines, with gamblers losing $141 million last year. It is one of the state’s highest totals, equating to $387,000 a day, or $1,077 per adult.
Reform advocates: “A sham trial”
Reverend Tim Costello, head of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, dismissed the pilot as “a parody.”
“The technology already operates at Crown Casino,” he said.
“This is a trial for show, so the government can appear to be keeping its promise of statewide implementation.”
Following the 2021 Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne, pre-commitment cards and mandatory limits are already required at the casino’s 2,628 machines.
Meanwhile, the Victorian Government is expected to collect $2.7 billion in gambling-related taxes this financial year. A figure projected to rise by more than 2 per cent annually.
The broader cost of gambling harm
The pilot forms part of a wider package of gaming reforms, including slower machine spin rates and a long-term cap on the number of EGMs until 2042.
Yet the social and economic toll of gambling continues to mount. A new study by the Alliance for Gambling Reform, commissioned by the state, estimates the annual cost of gambling harm in Victoria at $14 billion – double that of eight years ago.
Of that figure:
$5.2 billion relates to bankruptcies and other financial impacts
$3.3 billion to emotional and psychological harm, including depression and suicide (with gambling linked to 184 suicides over eight years)
$2.5 billion to family breakdown and violence
$1.5 billion to lost productivity and education
$1.3 billion in costs to state and local government
$289 million to crime and policing.
Only about one in ten Victorians plays pokies, yet those machines account for $6.7 billion of the total harm, more than all other legal forms of gambling combined.
“Who really benefits?” asked Alliance CEO Martin Thomas, calling on the government to accelerate reform and make pre-commitment cards mandatory across all pubs and clubs.
“The economic damage is only half the story,” he said. “Behind every dollar lost are families and communities torn apart.”
