The relationship between electronic gaming machine accessibility and police-recorded domestic violence: A spatio-temporal analysis of 654 postcodes in Victoria, Australia, 2005-2014

Significant associations of policy-relevant magnitudes were found between all domestic violence and EGM accessibility variables. Postcodes with no electronic gaming machines were associated with 20% (95% credibility interval [C.I.]: 15%, 24%) fewer family incidents per 10,000 and 30% (95% C.I.: 24%, 35%) fewer domestic-violence assaults per 10,000, when compared with postcodes with 75 electronic gaming machine per 10,000. The causal relations underlying these associations are unclear. Quasi-experimental research is required to determine if reducing gambling accessibility is likely to reduce the incidence of domestic violence.