Australian Casino and Card Room Gaming

Casinos exist in all of the country's eight territories and are popular among both tourists and locals. Each Australian state and territory creates and enforces its own gaming law through state-level regulatory agencies. The properties are modeled on U.S. hotel-casino complexes, with substantial slot and table game offerings. However, they aren't as widespread as in the United States, and the market does not anticipate much growth.

Gaming machines, or "pokies," primarily found in clubs and hotels in every state except Western Australia, became widespread in the 1980s and 1990s and are now the leading gaming revenue generators for the country. Recently, there has been a backlash against their proliferation, with reductions in the number of machines in operation, as well as the introduction of limits to their hours of operation.

In December 2007, the Prime Minister was called on to use commonwealth laws to protect gambling addicts by introducing smart cards that would help regulate the amount of money lost on poker machines. Other measures include a ban on ATMs near poker machines to limit access to funds while gambling, and a ban on indoor smoking.