The Problem Gambling Foundation is praising Australia's promise to install smart card technology on pokie machines to restrict problem gambling, and says New Zealand should follow.
"What a fantastic initiative, good on Australia," chief executive Graeme Ramsey told NZPA.
"This is a real piece of consumer empowerment, as it requires people to set limits before they start."
In a deal struck with Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie this week, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard pledged to tackle problem gambling in exchange for his support in parliament's lower house, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
She told states to fit the machines with devices that limit losses or risk federal intervention.
She said, under a re-elected Labor government, every poker machine in Australia would eventually be installed with smart cards, allowing players to decide in advance how much they wanted to spend.
Once that limit had been reached, it stopped them playing.
New Zealand's Problem Gambling Foundation has been pushing for similar technology here "for a long time", Mr Ramsey said.
"We would like to see a real commitment from government."
Mr Ramsey said the technology was very effective in helping problem gamblers stick to a limit, pre-determined by no-one but themselves.
"This offers a good opportunity for repeat gamblers to protect themselves by setting their own limits -- that's got to be a good thing..."
However, there was a lot of resistance from gambling operators, as smart cards had a serious impact on their revenue -- "which is kind of the point!"
But if it could happen in Australia, which had a "very strong" pokie gambling culture in many states, he believed it could succeed here.
Mr Ramsey said 80 percent of clients seen at the foundation had problems with pokies. Last year, $889 million was lost by gamblers to poker machines outside casinos - about $2.57 million each day, according to figures from the Department of Internal Affairs.
A spokesman at the department said while it was watching with interest how "pre-commitment" systems were implemented elsewhere, there were no plans to introduce such cards in New Zealand.
Difficulties included cost and an inability to identify players, without a single player tracking system for all machines. At-risk gamblers could simply keep playing after exceeding their own limit, moving on to other venues or spending their limit again in a different place.
However, a pop-up feature required on every gaming machine in New Zealand since last year, offers some benefits of player tracking and a pre-commitment system, he said. The "player information displays" interrupt every 30 minutes of play, to tell the player how long they have been playing, how much they have spent and their net wins and losses.
NZPA