A Vote for Accountability
A Step Towards Change
Essendon Football Club members will be invited to vote on a member-led amendment to the Club’s constitution, calling on the club to recognise the harm caused by pokies as a step towards planning a path away from them.
The Resolution
“That for the purposes of section 136(1)(b) and 136(2) of the Corporations Act:
That the Constitution of the Essendon Football Club is altered so that, after Clause 31, the following is inserted:
‘31A. Gambling Regulation Act
(1) If the Club holds a venue operator’s licence under the Gambling Regulation Act at any time during a particular year, then the Directors’ report for that financial year published by the Club relating to that year (whether in whole or in part) shall include a statement that acknowledges:
(a) that Electronic Gaming Machines cause social harm; and
(b) that the Club, as the holder of a venue operator’s licence, is contributing to that harm.
(2) This clause 31A applies subject to the Corporations Act and other relevant laws and otherwise notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution.’”
If successful, this resolution would require the Club to include a statement in their annual report, acknowledging that pokies cause social harm and that Essendon, as a pokies operator, contributes to that harm.
That’s the extent of the change.
Members' Statement
This resolution has arisen from growing concern amongst Essendon Football Club members toward continued reliance on revenue generated by Electronic Gaming Machines (EGMs).
Since 2006, over $235 million has been lost on EGMs at the two venues run by Essendon Football Club, the Windy Hill Venue in Essendon and the Melton Country Club. Revenue made by Essendon Football Club from player losses comes with risk of social harm. EGMs are addictive by design and a leading cause of problem gambling in Australia.
Harms from EGMs and problem gambling are wide ranging:
- At least 184 suicides in Victoria were directly related to problem gambling between 2009-2016, and a further 17 suicides occurred among ‘affected others’
- An average of six others (e.g., partners, children) are negatively impacted for each problem gambler in Australia
- An up to 30% increase in domestic violence assaults in postcodes with a high density of EGMs
Part (a) of the proposed change will make Essendon Football Club publicly acknowledge this harm occurs.
Part (b) of the proposed change will make Essendon Football Club publicly acknowledge their potential contribution to harms caused by EGMs and problem gambling.
The Victorian Gaming & Casino Control Commission’s 2023 Position on Gambling Harm asserts that operators of EGMs “alone choose to provide gambling services which cause harm.” As such, it is important for the Essendon Football Club to acknowledge their role in contributing to these harms.
We understand non-football income streams are vital to football clubs and this acknowledgement would not obligate the Essendon Football Club to stop earning revenue from EGMs. Instead, it ensures that the Club’s ongoing decision to operate EGMs is made with full awareness, and ownership, of the potential harms.
By first recognising the harm that EGMs cause, and then recognising that the decision to contribute to that harm is the club’s choice alone, we hope that these proposed changes will empower the club to act to find a path away from pokies.
We recommend, and hope, that you will vote in favour of this resolution.
Voting Information
Who can vote
If you’re 18 or older and have an Essendon membership for the 2024 AFL or AFLW season, then chances are you’re eligible to vote.
This includes AFL and MCC members with Essendon club support add-ons.
You will need your membership number, also referred to as your Account ID, when voting.
Essendon’s membership page states:
Your Member Number or Account ID is a 7-digit number that starts with either 1, 2, 3 or 4.
It can be found on your membership card, as well as on all correspondence from the Club.
How to vote
Voting opens at 9am (AEDT) Tuesday December 3rd and will run until 5pm Tuesday December 17th.
You will receive an email with a link to vote online, at the email address that is registered with your membership.
This is likely to come from a sender such as CorpVote Voting Services, rather than Essendon.
This email will also include a link to vote for directors – NoPE are not running a candidate for the board.
Be sure to encourage any friends of family members who are Essendon members to also vote, but don’t forward the voting email to them as it contains a unique ID for voting which can only be used once.
This change does not force Essendon to end their pokies businesses, so there will be no loss of income to the club if it passes.
All decision-making powers regarding the club’s gaming venues and alternative revenue streams would remain with the club. Yet this is a rare chance to put Essendon on a path towards being pokies free.
By binding the club to acknowledge where this revenue is coming from, and that it is associated with significant social harms, we hope that they will be empowered to find new ways of being financially viable that do not cause such damage to the community.
If you’re concerned about the harm caused by pokies but have been worried about how Essendon will replace the revenue, then this is a resolution you can get behind.
Statement in response to Essendon’s position
The Essendon Football Club’s response to the No Pokies at Essendon (NoPE) initiated member-led resolution seeks to muddy the waters by misrepresenting the proposed change.
The resolution simply calls for a constitutional change, requiring Essendon to acknowledge the social harm that their gaming venues contribute to.
We encourage all Essendon member’s to read NoPE’s member’s statement in support of the resolution, to gain an understanding of its impact.
This statement was also included on page three of Essendon’s notice of ballot to amend the Club’s constitution.
While we hope the proposed changes would serve as a step towards an exit, the member-led resolution does not prevent the Club from continuing to operate their gaming venues.
NoPE has been clear in acknowledging the Club’s position that an exit would require a planned transition away from their reliance on gambling revenue, and the resolution was designed to avoid any financial impact as a result.
Of the Club’s six reasons recommending a vote against the resolution, four of them are related to the revenue the Club gets from their gambling venues. These arguments are a distraction and have no relevance to the resolution; The resolution is about words in the annual report, not numbers.
Our response to each point raised by the club
1.
‘The Constitution is a binding agreement between the Club and its members. It sets the framework for how our Club is governed and should be a unifying document. The Constitution should be protected, and the Board rejects the notion that it should be altered to advance personal views or make political or policy statements.’
Essendon’s current Constitution has only been in effect since October 2000 and has been amended eight times since.
It is a governing document which, along with the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), allows members to raise resolutions to amend the Constitution. If, as the club argues, the Constitution is an agreement between the Club and its members, then this Resolution simply follows an agreed process that is open to members.
Our Resolution is neither about personal nor political views, rather it seeks to recognise the established facts of a core part of the Club’s operations.
2.
‘The Board believes that the proposal would put the Club at a competitive disadvantage, as we rely on revenue from our hospitality venues to support and invest in our AFL and AFLW programs, Windy Hill, and community programs. To illustrate this point, the Club invests upwards of $1 million annually to maintain and curate the Windy Hill facility to be used as a community asset for the AFLW, VFL, VFLW, EDFL and Essendon Cricket Club seasons, as well as use by the Essendon Bowls Club. The Club’s hospitality venues directly fund this investment.’
This argument is irrelevant to the proposed resolution, which has no bearing on Essendon’s ability to continue operating their gaming venues.
3.
‘Furthermore, over the past 10 years, local sporting clubs in the Essendon and Melton regions have received in excess of $2 million in funding grants from the Essendon Football Club. These grants are directly linked to our hospitality venues. In 2024 alone, 23 organisations received funding from the Club to support grassroots and community activities. The removal of our gaming licence would result in the source of that funding disappearing.’
This argument is irrelevant to the proposed resolution, which has no bearing on Essendon’s ability to continue operating their gaming venues.
4.
‘The Club has already stated its commitment to exploring alternative revenue streams that will allow us choice to exit gaming in a thoughtful and strategic way.’
This point seeks to muddy the waters.
Without a commitment to new revenue streams being used to replace gaming revenue, alternative revenue streams are just additional revenue streams.
While the Club here tries to create the impression that they are exploring an exit, other arguments they present paint themselves as being dependent on their gaming venues.
5.
‘The statement put forward by ‘NoPE’ says it wants the Club to be held “accountable”, but the Club is already strictly accountable to the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission and other Government agencies for the operation of its hospitality venues, which are operated to the highest standards. Problem gambling is a complex social issue and, given the Club’s practices as a responsible operator, the Board does not accept the simplistic statement that the Club contributes to social harm from gambling.’
It is the VGCCC’s position that ‘gambling causes harm’ and that gambling providers have a responsibility to their communities because they ‘alone choose to provide gambling services which cause harm’.
The State Gaming Minister has stated that almost 30% of people who play pokies experience gambling harm, while experts believe upwards of 50% of money lost on pokies comes from problem gamblers. Best practices may reduce a venue’s contribution to harm but they cannot avoid it entirely.
While the Club is accountable to the VGCCC from a regulatory perspective, they are also a member organisation and as such are accountable to their members.
6.
‘The Club being forced to exit gaming in an unplanned manner would affect the Club’s ability to invest in areas that are important to our members, such as our football department and community programs. Additionally, revenue from our hospitality venues enables the Club to be less financially dependent on AFL funding, and thereby, more independent in its operations.’
This argument is irrelevant to the proposed resolution, which has no bearing on Essendon’s ability to continue operating their gaming venues.
Additionally, and disappointingly, it ignores NoPE’s long-standing position which recognises that any exit would require careful planning to avoid any financial harm to the club.
Who's Behind This?
This resolution was instigated by No Pokies at Essendon (NoPE), a grassroots group of Essendon fans who have been advocating since early 2023 for Essendon to commit to ending their pokies business.
Over 100 passionate Essendon members joined with us to co-sponsor this resolution, ensuring it met the requirements to be put to a vote at Essendon’s AGM.