Electronic Gaming Machines in Bendigo 2008

The study sets out to isolate the electronic gambling sector from food and beverage sales and club activities and assess the net economic impact of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) on the regional economy of Bendigo. This approach assumes that food, beverage and club activities all occurred prior to the introduction of EGMs and would continue in the unlikely event of the removal or drastic cutback of the electronic gambling sector. It follows an earlier study (Pinge 2000) that examined similar issues through regional economic modelling. Much more attention is given in this study to the underlying features of the electronic gambling industry sector which determine its relatively weaker performance as an industry sector. A number of surveys of gamblers in Victoria, including EGM gamblers, have been carried out since the last study and the important information they have provided has been incorporated into the study. The main finding of the study is that the switch in expenditure in Bendigo towards EGM gambling costs the region an estimated $20.542 million and 207 jobs. This results from the very weak performance of the EGM gambling sector in terms of very low levels of job intensity when compared with any other sector along with the very low levels of input