Our recently published research suggests a link between the number of poker machines in an area and levels of domestic violence.

Gambling gallops on The pokies are still the biggest game in town ... and by a fair margin. Of the $1,518 lost per head in NSW (to gambling), $978 or 64.8 per cent went into pokies in pubs or clubs. This is unsurprising, given NSW has around 95,000 poker machines; 70 per cent in clubs. The rest of Australia (bar WA) has to make do with the remaining 100,000. Pokies are far and away the biggest cause of gambling harm. Around 75 per cent or more of those directly experiencing harm from gambling do so because of poker machines. And most people don't use them. A recent study found only about 16 per cent of adult Victorians use pokies. What that means is the per-capita expenditure of actual users is not an average of $559 per year, but about $3,493. Among that group, a smaller proportion use pokies regularly, and that group sustains losses many times greater than the average. - Charles Livingstone of Monash University on the Australian Gambling Statistics for 2014-15

We compared publicly available data on poker machine numbers with police-recorded domestic violence incidents in Victoria between 2005 and 2014. Specifically, we compared the number of pokies and pokie venues in each Victorian postcode to the number of "family violence incidents" recorded by the police, and the number of those incidents that led to a formal charge of assault.

Police-recorded domestic violence is associated with many other social indicators apart from poker machines. For that reason, we statistically adjusted for other local indicators. These included:

Economic gender inequality

Economic gender inequality Social and economic disadvantage

Social and economic disadvantage The proportion of people from an English-speaking background

The proportion of people from an English-speaking background The average number of children per woman

The average number of children per woman The proportion of residents who identify as Indigenous

The proportion of residents who identify as Indigenous The median age; and

The median age; and Geographic remoteness

What we found

We found a statistically significant correlation between poker machine density and police-recorded domestic violence rates among postcodes. This relationship existed even after accounting for the contextual factors listed above.

In terms of relative risk, the police recorded 20 per cent fewer family violence incidents and 30 per cent fewer domestic violence assaults when postcodes with no poker machines were compared with postcodes with at least 75 pokies per 10,000 people.

Similar patterns were evident when the number of poker machine venues was analysed instead of the number of poker machines.

Poker machine density and domestic violence. ( Supplied: The Conversation )

These correlations are stronger than we expected. However, it is important to note they account for only a small part of the variation in police-recorded domestic violence rates between postcodes.

We found a correlation between police-recorded domestic violence and poker machine accessibility. But we need to stress that we are not in a position to make strong claims about cause and effect. What we can say is there is more police-recorded violence in areas with more poker machines.

How it fits in to what we know

What our research suggests is the uneven provisioning of poker machines across Victoria may be contributing to the incidence of domestic violence in areas with many poker machines. This should perhaps not come as a surprise.

Previous research in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania has shown that more than half the people receiving problem gambling treatment have recent experience of domestic violence, either as survivors or perpetrators.

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Nationally representative research from the US suggests that, compared to otherwise similar individuals, "pathological gamblers" are more than 20 times more likely to be violent to their spouse.

It may not merely be the case that those involved in abusive relationships become entangled with poker machines — although this is undoubtedly the case for many people. Rather, our study points toward the possibility that the increased provision of poker machines may lead to an increased risk of violence at the population level.

Our research did specifically explore the processes driving this relationship. We think a complex range of dynamics are likely to be involved. What is clear is that more poker machines in an area generally leads to more gambling and more problem gambling. And, as previous research suggests, a very substantial proportion of problem gamblers come to be involved in abusive relationships.

As such, our study suggests domestic violence impacts should be considered when regulators make decisions about granting licences for poker machines.

We are not making the case that poker machines cause violence directly. Gender inequality is clearly the root cause of domestic violence. However, it is apparent from decades of research that many other factors are indirectly implicated in the population-level incidence of domestic violence.

It appears poker machines may be part of the mix in Australia.

Francis Markham is a PhD candidate and Bruce Doran is a senior lecturer (Geographic Information Systems), both at The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University; Martin Young is Associate Professor at the Centre for Gambling Education and Research, Southern Cross University.

Originally published in The Conversation.