SPORTING groups and charities in the Redlands would suffer funding cuts if strict gambling reforms were passed, according to president of Clubs Queensland Don Seccombe.
Mr Seccombe, the president of Redlands Sporting Club and former Redland City mayor, said not-for-profit clubs faced losing up to 30 per cent in revenue under the poker machine reforms.
The "trickle-down" effect would result in funding cuts to groups such as Point Lookout Surf Life Saving Club, Redland Bay Coast Guard, Redland District Special School and Redland District Committee on the Ageing, Mr Seccombe said.
"If these reforms are adopted hook, line and sinker all Redland clubs will start losing money and will be forced to start cost cutting," Mr Seccombe said.
"Any loss in revenue would force the area's four largest clubs Capalaba Sporting Club, Redland Sporting Club, Redland RSL and the Sharks to cut vital funds to charities and community services.
"Clubs operate on small margins and there will be no money to give back to the community so sporting groups and charities will be the ultimate losers.
"We don't want problem gamblers in Redlands but these reforms will not stop problem gamblers.
"All the reform package will do is cut revenue for clubs by curbing spontaneous gambling by introducing 'full mandatory pre-commitment' or a form of licence to play poker machines.
"Mandatory pre-commitment technology failed to reduce problem gambling in Norway, where gamblers just switched from poker machines to using the internet," Mr Seccombe said.
Under the proposed reforms, gamblers would have to hold smart cards, which Clubs Queensland feared would curtail spontaneous gambling, which made up about 60 per cent of clubs' revenues, Mr Seccombe said.
The reforms are part of a package Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie hopes to push through the Federal Parliament by March 31 after garnering a deal with the Gillard Government to curb gambling.
They include a USB system that stores gamblers' fingerprints, reducing the daily withdrawal limit from ATMS to $250 and setting poker machine bets at $1, down from $10 and warning signs on poker machines.
They also include six-hour shutdown periods on gaming machines from 2am.
The reform package would only go part of the way to stem the destruction caused by "problem addict gamblers", Relationship Australia's chief executive officer Shane Klintworth said.
He said findings from a Queensland Productivity Commission report into Gambling 2010 showed the proposed reforms would reduce accessibility to poker machines but would not stop online gambling, which was a growing social concern.
He said gambling was a problem with ramifications for the entire community, with the taxpayer left to bear the cost.
"The Queensland Productivity Commission Report into gambling 2010 shows adult prevalence rates are 0.7 per cent of the population for problem gamblers and 1.7 per cent for moderate-risk gambling," Mr Klintworth said.
"That looks small and indeed some segments of the industry have suggested that consequently the social policy significance of such problems is also small.
"However, to put these figures in context, only around 0.15 per cent of the population is admitted to hospital each year for traffic accidents and around 0.2 per cent of the population are estimated to have used heroin in the preceding year.
"Small population prevalence rates do not mean small problems for society," Mr Klintworth said.
He urged the federal government to ensure the welfare of the wider community.
Member for Bowman Andrew Laming said he was keen to get feedback before any nationwide reforms were implemented and would organise a forum on the issue.
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