What is gambling anyway? Basically gambling involves placing bets and taking risks with winning or losing money, depending on the outcomes of a game or race.
When does gambling become a problem? For some people gambling can mean a game of two-up on ANZAC Day or a flutter on the Melbourne Cup but for others it’s something they need to do continually. This condition is known as ‘compulsive’ or ‘problem’ gambling and it’s recognised as a mental disorder.
What can problem gambling do?The affects of problem gambling can be severe and are felt in many parts of a person’s life.
Health Stress levels can increase due to increasing debt. Depression and other mental illnesses can also develop.
Family Problem gamblers often spend less time at home. This puts strain on their relationships, which is further increased if they lie about what they are doing and their whereabouts.
Finances Most problem gamblers get caught in a vicious cycle of trying to ‘win back’ the money they have lost. This means they continue to lose more and, even if they do win, they don’t really make up for the cash the lost before. It becomes harder for a person to stop and count their losses when they are in this cycle.
Most problem gamblers continue even after their money runs out. This can lead to:
- credit card debt
- asset losses (selling goods to pay off debts)
- borrowing money from lenders such as loan sharks and pawn brokers
- bankruptcy
Work Problem gamblers will sometimes skip work to gamble and tend to be less productive than other workers. This is because they often spend their time away from gambling planning their next gambling opportunity or working out ways to get their money back.
How do you support someone who’s got a gambling problem? The best way is to seek professional help and advice. A counsellor, doctor or youth worker may be able to help. For more information check out the
gambling fact sheet on
http://www.reachout.com.au. What is the Australian government doing about problem gambling?Regulation of gambling is primarily a state and territory responsibility (the Commonwealth Government is responsible for regulating internet gambling). Commonwealth, state and territory governments realise that gambling can become a problem. The Commonwealth Government coordinates a national policy to combat problem gambling, while State and territory governments have tried to minimise the spread of excessive gambling by increasing poker machine taxes and t.
But is this enough?The taxes paid by clubs to state and territory governments from poker machine profits are high. Some people believe that governments can do more to regulate the industry, but won’t due to the risk of upsetting the clubs associations and the affect it would have on the taxes they receive.
Should governments do more to stop problem gambling?Some Australians will argue that the majority of gambling activities do more harm than good, and that gambling is too widely accessible through local clubs and pubs. Research suggests that gambling problems increased dramatically following the introduction of poker machines in most states during the 1990s. NSW (the state with the longest history of poker machines) has the highest rate of problem gamblers in the country.
People who want to see more government regulation of gaming venues believe that the more poker machines in clubs the greater the risk of someone becoming a problem gambler. They want to see:
- governments take control the number of poker machines permitted in a club or pub
- the introduction of increased taxes on poker machine profits, to stop club owners buying them as a great money maker.
Should the government allow clubs and pubs to decide for themselves? Some Australians argue that gaming and betting is a leisure activity, equal to other forms of entertainment. They believe problem gambling only affects a very small section of the population who will probably find other ways to gamble, if they didn’t have access to poker machines. They believe that just because pubs and clubs have areas to gamble, this does not increase the amount of people suffering from problem gambling.
These people argue that more government control of gambling in clubs and pubs is not the answer to problem gambling. They do not want an increase in taxes on poker machines as this means that clubs will have less profit and less money to put back into the community.
They believe an increase in taxes will lead to:
- lower profits for pubs and clubs, which are often small community businesses
- fewer employment opportunities for workers at these venues, and a risk to existing staff
- fewer sponsorships and community finance initiatives to the community including sporting team sponsorships.
Some useful websitesGambler’s Help,
http://www.gspot.org.au/index.htmReachout!,
http://www.reachout.com.au Relationships Australia,
http://www.relationships.com.au/default.asp How do I know this?National Council on problem gambling,
What is Problem Gambling? http://www.ncpgambling.org/Prime Minister John Howard 1999, _ National approach to problem gambling _,
http://www.pm.gov.au/News/media_releases/1999/gamb...Problem Gambling Victoria,
What is problem gambling?
http://www.problemgambling.vic.gov.au/problemgambling/ Quotegarden.com,
Sayings about gamblers
http://www.quotegarden.com/gambling.html Relationships Australia,
Problem gambling http://www.relationships.com.au/problem_gamb/landi...World Socialist Website,
Australia: New evidence that gambling industry profits from the poorest suburbs,
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2000/dec2000/gamb-d18...Affected by this issue yourself or know someone who is? Check out our sister site http://www.reachout.com.au
