Each year, people in our community lose millions of dollars on poker machines. It's costing them not only their hard-earned cash, but also exacerbates social isolation and stigma and can cause wide-ranging social harm, including family violence and mental health issues.

At Yarra City Council, we care about the health and wellbeing of our community. That's why we've created a policy to limit the number of poker machines available. We view poker machines as a threat.

The Yarra Gambling Policy [ PDF, 1.35 MB] builds on the success of the first anti-gambling strategy we launched in 2010, the Yarra Gaming Strategy. Since then, we have seen no new poker machines in the City of Yarra.

The Yarra Gambling Policy:

• advocates for less poker machines in Yarra City
• supports gambling-free community activities
• helps people understand the risks from gambling to our community
• seeks to reform the gambling industry
• lets the community have a say when someone applies for a planning permit to operate a venue with poker machines in the City of Yarra

If you want to add poker machines to an existing venue or wish to open a new gaming venue, you must apply for a planning permit. Under the Yarra Gambling Policy, we can only grant the permit if we can prove that any additional poker machines or venues don't harm our community.