Kate is calling for a national loss limit on poker machines after struggling with her own gambling addiction
Kate Seselja is leading the charge for radical gambling reform in Australia.
The mother-of-six and anti-gambling advocate is no stranger to the neon lure of casinos.
Seselja overcame her own pokies addiction after losing around $500,000 over 15 years – which is why she is calling for national loss limits to be enforced on machines.
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Gambling reform advocate Kate Seselja is petitioning for loss limits on poker machines. Supplied
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She is pleading with the federal government to consider daily, monthly and yearly loss limits because "people's lives are at stake".
"The machines do not discriminate. You could be poor, you could be rich. You could be male, you could be female – they cause immeasurable damage when you engage with them," Seselja told nine.com.au.
"We've been at a crisis point for decades.
"We are outliers as a nation, experiencing the highest levels of gambling harm in the world, and poker machines are at the top of that list."
Alongside the organisation Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE), Seselja has launched a Change.org petition asking every state and territory to introduce loss limits.
Seselja has called for individiual losses to be capped at $100 per day, $500 per month and $5000 per year, which she said will "literally save lives".
The petition has already attracted close to 11,500 signatures.
Murray MP Helen Dalton was among the first politicians to throw her support behind Seselja's calls for a reform.
"I don't think many Australians realise how much can be lost on poker machines so quickly," Dalton told nine.com.au.
Dalton said she believes most Australians would support loss limits.
"If poker machine losses were limited, the machines would be about paying a small about of money for some entertainment, just like going to the movies," she added.
"But right now, poker machines are about people losing everything [and] because of this [are] addictive and potentially deadly."
Do you have a story? Contact reporter April Glover at april.glover@nine.com.au
Seselja has launched a petition asking every state and territory to introduce loss limits. Edwina Pickles
Loss limits are aimed at reducing the risk of gambling addiction at the source, Seselja explained.
She said such legislation would have "absolutely" stopped her own addiction at age 18.
The fight to get the government's attention hasn't been easy.
Seselja said profits are being prioritised over people.
"It's an uphill battle," she said.
"I've been in unpaid advocacy for a decade because people's lives are at stake.
"I almost took my life in 2012 and I don't take that responsibility that I carry lightly."
The Tasmanian government previously made plans to introduce cashless pokies cards with loss limits.
But the roll-out was indefinitely paused after the state flagged a desire to work on a national solution.
A Deloitte report released last month found the shelved proposal would have benefited the Tasmanian economy by $230 million by 2030 by decreasing demand on mental health services and the justice system.
The government has since proposed a ticketed poker machine system, capped at $200 per ticket and $100 per machine.
Some international jurisdictions have introduced loss limits, including Norway and Finland.
Seselja lost $500,000 due to her own pokies addiction. Supplied
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The Victorian Greens have also lobbied for a $50 default limit on how much a person can lose in a 24-hour period.
Seselja is asking all Australian states and territories to join together for a national approach to address gambling harm.
"It's just horrific that this landscape has been allowed to continue to thrive in this country," she added.
"There's so much unnecessary human cost, because no one has the political strength to stand up to this predatory industry."
There are many different ways to get help and information about gambling. You can visit the National Gambling Helpline or call on 1800 858 858.
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
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