Neil Lawrence wins posthumous ADMA Hall of Fame Award; Children Tom + Anna accept award, launch campaign to continue Lawrence’s legacy

Last night, at the 35th annual ADMA awards at Star Casino, Neil Lawrence was awarded the exclusive Hall of Fame award. The award is given to a person or persons who has not only given outstanding service to the industry over a number of years, but who also has demonstrated inspiring leadership and stewardship in how the industry has evolved.

Lawrence died suddenly last year in a tragic diving accident in the Maldives whilst on holiday with his son, Tom so the award was given posthumously.

His children, Tom and Anna Lawrence accepted the award on the night.

Says Tom Lawrence: “Dad worked on a lot of brands throughout his career but it was his later work that he was proudest of and that we remember him for; Kevin 07, Jay Weatherill, Anna Bligh, Recognise and finally his campaigning and documentary on the pokies.”

Only months before he died, Neil completed his ground-breaking documentary on the poker machine industry, ‘KaChing! Pokie Nation‘, an expose which reveals the predatory nature of the industry and how the pokies are specifically designed for addiction.

Tom and Anna have now found their own way to continue the conversation their father started and bring this issue to a new demographic. Last Sunday, the pair launched their campaign, Proudly Pokies Free, which aims to reduce the harm the pokies have on Australian communities and celebrates and promotes pokies-free venues in Sydney which do not rely on the unethical revenue.

The event was a huge success with over 500 people attending the launch. Highlights included: Tim Freedman singing ‘Blow Up The Pokies’, The Preatures performing who were the ‘secret announcement on the night’ and Scott Marsh (Casino Mike and Kanye loves Kanye murals) painting a pokies-inspired piece exclusively for the campaign.

With Australia hosting over 20% of the world’s poker machines, Proudly Pokies Free want to challenge the acceptance of the proliferation of these machines in our pubs and clubs. They want to change the perceptions of the pokies industry, see less people getting addicted to the pokies, less venues that have the pokies and more support for pokies- free venues.

The campaign will be holding a series of screenings of ‘KaChing! Pokie Nation!’ in a number of pokies-free venues in the coming months with the first one kicking off at pokies-free favourite, The Unicorn, Paddington on Monday November 7th at 6:30pm.