The plea, which comes just days after National Australia Bank announced that it would close more country branches, will place pressure on the government to reject the plight of groups seeking to curb problem gambling.
"With the closure of banks, post offices and other essential services, hotels are often the only service provider left standing in many rural towns," said AHA national executive director, Richard Mulcahy.
In making its case the AHA said that there was no evidence that removing ATMs from pubs would assist those with gambling problems and asked the government to weigh the impact of doing so.
"It's a fanciful argument to suggest that removing ATMs will remove the problems," said AHA spokesperson Simon Birmingham.
Coupling that argument, Mulchay said "...with the ongoing closure of banks, it would clearly disadvantage thousands of country Australians who rely on ATMs in hotels as their sole banking source."
Reverend Chester Carter, president of the NSW Council on Problem Gambling, said the association is taking a narrow view of the problem to justify keeping ATMs in hotels and clubs.
"I understand the difficulties faced by the rural communities concerning essential services. After spending 17 years in small country communities I think I can pose other options," Carter said.
Reverend Carter manages Wesley Mission's gambling counselling service and he challenged the association's position that there is no proof that removing pub ATMs would assist problem gamblers.
"For many country people its probably alright to visit the local for a drink or a meal but, for the problem gambler, access to ready cash and poker machines is a deadly mix," he said.
According to Carter, one strategy that counsellors use in cases of problem gambling is to make the sufferer open a passbook account instead of a cash-card account.
"This will seem harder [for sufferers in rural regions] with bank closures but Post Officers will still be available to offer banking transactions with most major banks," he said.
Having experienced, first hand, living in a small country town, I know the frustration that is experienced when your local bank branch closes. Post Office Agencies are a limited substitute, and EFTPOS in the few shops and service stations that can justify installing them is next to useless when it comes to getting cash in reasonable quantities.
In order to minimise transaction fees, one needs to make fewer, larger withdrawals. Into town comes an ATM in the pub. Well, as a very irregular drinker and as an even less frequent pub-goer, this presents a challenge. But, it is not insurmountable; so long as the ATM is installed in a location that is all-age accessible - not the bar or the pokies areas, it is a reasonable alternative.
The remaining problem is for older folk, and smaller towns and villages are becoming home to more and more older folk, to have access to their traditional passbook banking if the pub is the only point of access. Then there is the issue of negotiating loans, etc.
Nothing will beat face-to-face banking; there has to be a better way than relying on non-bank services, while also accepting that banks need to generate sufficient income to justify their existence.
Is there another model? Remember the old independent service station model with a range of brands? Couldn't the local council offices be used? Are there other alternatives?