Gamblers lost nearly $150 million on NT poker machines during the last financial year, data shows ABC News

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The Point of Consumption Tax, introduced progressively by eastern states from 2017, partially corrected this by ensuring operators also pay tax in the states where their customers reside. From this perspective, reducing or removing poker machines could jeopardise important sources of public funding and local employment. The Northern Territory government receives more gambling revenue per capita than any other Australian jurisdiction, collecting around $573 per resident annually. Health experts highlight that gambling, alongside alcohol and pornography, is contributing to high rates of domestic violence in the region. A Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade spokeswoman said the levy helped to fund ongoing support programs and research related to problem gambling. Dr Caudwell said community attitudes were shifting but it would take a long time for Australia to disentangle its relationship with gambling.
The casino’s EGM complement plus table games generates substantial revenue from both Darwin residents and the Northern Territory’s significant tourism traffic. Mindil Beach Casino is the only Darwin casino and was the second casino to open in Australia after Wrest Point (1973). Local loss figures are estimates; the NT does not publish the same level of detail as eastern states. Yet the 2023 NT Gambling Prevalence and Wellbeing Survey found problem gambling rates — and rates of gambling-related harm — that are consistently the highest in Australia.
Using data collected by the Queensland’s Statisticians Office measure trends in in turnover (amount bet), government revenue (fees and taxes), and expenditure (player losses). The NT Government funds gambling help programs through the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities, with community-based services particularly important in remote areas where access to professional counselling is limited. The POCT regimes of eastern states ensure that tax is also paid in the states where bettors reside, but the NT collects a fraction of what its operators’ scale would suggest it should receive from its own licensing arrangements. Unlike most eastern states, the NT does not publish granular monthly EGM expenditure data by LGA. The Racing and Wagering Act 2024 has now introduced a new levy framework and raised maximum fines to $440,000 per breach — but the fundamental 5% capped rate structure remains. The Northern Territory became Australia’s primary licensing hub for online bookmakers in the 1990s and early 2000s, when it established a regulatory framework that offered operators lower tax rates and less restrictive conditions than other jurisdictions. The NT both profits from national gambling activity and bears disproportionate costs from local gambling harm.
The casino has operated under several names — Diamond Beach, MGM Grand Darwin, SkyCity Darwin — before being acquired by Delaware North, a US-based hospitality and entertainment company, which now operates it as Mindil Beach Casino & Resort. Harm contextProximity to remote communities raises documented harm concerns Does not include the national bookmaker revenues flowing through NT licences. Local gambling losses — what NT residents actually spend on gambling — are much smaller and are driven primarily by EGMs, casinos and lotteries. Separating the NT’s role as a national bookmaker licensing hub from its local gambling picture is important. Whether the new Act represents a meaningful shift in the NT’s position as a “light touch” licensing hub — or simply a rebranding of the existing framework — is a question regulators, operators and researchers are watching closely.
That’s one poker machine per 89 people, compared with one poker machine per 173 people in the NT. “If you can’t make mortgage repayments because you’re leaking money as a household, or having cars repossessed or things being sold, that’s a very common result of problem gambling,” he said. “That’s particularly concerning, because these are people who are almost using gambling as a way of managing or coping with their emotional states.”
Dr Caudwell said the source of gambling addiction runs deeper than the financial incentive of trying to win money. Kim Caudwell says “problem gamblers” use the pokies as a coping mechanism. Over that three-year period, gamblers spent a total of $430 million on NT poker machines. The department classes areas outside major regional towns as places such as Nhulunbuy and highway roadhouses. The new Racing and Wagering Fund levy adds a small additional amount but does not structurally change the 5% capped model. Research published in the Journal of Public Health found that Aboriginal respondents in both urban and regional settings experienced significantly higher rates of problem gambling and harm from their own or someone else’s gambling, compared to non-Aboriginal counterparts. The QGSO national dataset includes NT figures, but these are annual and not broken down below state level.
These funds help support community services, infrastructure, and job creation, particularly in remote areas where economic opportunities can be limited. She also said the NT government had lowered the cap on gaming machines in community venues across the NT, which now stood at 1,659 down from 1,699. The latest federal government data, published in September, shows New South Wales is home to more than 91,600 poker machines — making up nearly half of all pokies real money online in Australia.
The company has confirmed its hospitality venues offer a balanced experience that goes beyond gambling, including food, accommodation, and entertainment. On the other hand, operators like IRIS Capital maintain that they are acting within the legal framework and have put harm minimisation strategies in place. In Alice Springs, where many patrons are Indigenous, there is growing concern about the link between gambling addiction and domestic violence, financial hardship, and other social problems. The expansion has raised questions about the social cost of gambling in communities already grappling with crime and disadvantage.
Lasseters in Alice Springs occupies a particularly sensitive position — it is a casino in a remote city with a large Indigenous population and well-documented problem gambling rates. Its Aboriginal communities, which make up approximately 30% of the NT population, experience gambling harm at rates significantly above the national average. These operators collectively process tens of billions of dollars in annual wagering turnover from customers across every state and territory, generating licence fees and a capped wagering tax for the NT government. Its population of approximately 250,000 people makes it the smallest jurisdiction in the country by far — yet it is the licensing home of Australia’s largest online bookmakers, including Sportsbet (Australia’s market leader, founded in Darwin), Ladbrokes, Neds, bet365, Unibet and dozens more.