LATROBE Valley gamblers are again regional Victoria's biggest spenders on electronic gaming, with new statistics showing a significant increase in pokie expenditure.
Figures released by the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation reveal Latrobe City punters spent an average $846 per adult on electronic gaming in the 2010-11 financial year.
According to the statistics Latrobe City residents are the biggest per capita spenders on pokies in regional Victoria.
A total of $47.4 million passed through poker machines in Latrobe City during the period, representing more than a $1.5 million increase in total gaming expenditure.
Only the City of Greater Geelong and City of Ballarat, both with larger populations, ranked above Latrobe City in total expenditure.
The release of statistics has prompted fresh calls for the introduction of a mandatory pre-commitment system, which would require punters to declare how much they were prepared to lose before playing.
Federal Member for Denison Andrew Wilkie, who has actively campaigned on the issue, said the increase reflected "the incredible problem with poker machines in Australia".
"We've got a uniquely Australian problem here with our poker machine gambling and we need an innovative and powerful reform to reign in the problem," Mr Wilkie said.
He said there was no reason to believe the Latrobe Valley was any different to other areas with high poker machine expenditure and would benefit from the introduction of mandatory pre-commitment.
Last year a Productivity Commission report recommended the introduction of a mandatory pre-commitment system and found 95,000 Australians have a problem with poker machine gambling while another 95,000 were at risk of becoming problem gamblers. It also estimated the national cost of problem gambling to be almost $5 billion annually.
Latrobe Community Health Service executive director community support Anne-Maree Kaser said mandatory pre-commitment was a tool people "might avail themselves of to manage their losses", but stressed the importance of gambler's help services.
LCHS provides support services including advice and counselling for people who are concerned about their gambling, or for people affected by someone else's gambling.
Ms Kaser said a number of factors, including population growth, could have contributed to the increase in Latrobe City's poker machine expenditure and it was important for people to access help services as soon as they realised there was a problem.
"If people get in early we can assist them to manage their gambling... and avoid serious financial difficulty," Ms Kaser said.
She said problem gambling had the potential to lead to other social problems such as alcohol and drug abuse, anxiety and family violence, but added people should not see the absence of these problems as a reason to avoid seeking help.
The Express was unable to contact the Australian Hotel Association Victoria by time of publication
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