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Useful web resources

Gambling Support Program

Provides a public health response to the risks and harms of gambling through community education, community grants, provision of services for people affected by gambling, policy development and research.

http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/gambling

Know Your Odds

A website addressing gamblers’ misunderstandings about how commercial gambling works.

https://healthworkers.knowyourodds.net.au

Gambling Help Online

Information, resources, help and support

http://www.gamblinghelponline.org.au

Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission

Tasmanian industry data

http://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/liquor-and-gaming/about-us/tasmanian-liquor-and-gaming-commission

Australian Government Department of Social Services – Communities and Vulnerable People

Information on the Commonwealth Government’s responses to problem gambling in Australia.

https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people/programmes-services/gambling

Australian Government – Australian Institute of Family Studies – Australian Gambling Research Centre

Publications and resources for policy-makers, researchers and professionals in the gambling area.

https://aifs.gov.au/agrc

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation

Research, resources

https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au

References

Productivity Commission 2010, Gambling, Report no. 50, Canberra.

Acil Allen Consulting, Deakin University, Central Queensland University And The Social Research Centre. 2017. Fourth Social and Economic Impact Study of Gambling In Tasmania: Report 1. Tasmanian Department Of Treasury and Finance, Hobart.

Tasmanian Liquor and Gaming Commission Annual Report 2016-17

Know Your Odds

Delfabbro, Paul, Anna Thomas, and Andrew Armstrong. “Observable Indicators and Behaviors for the Identification of Problem Gamblers in Venue Environments.”Journal of Behavioral Addictions 5.3 (2016): 419–428. PMC. Web. 5 June 2018.

McQuade, Anne and Gill, Peter. The role of loneliness and self-control in predicting problem gambling behaviour [online]. Gambling Research: Journal of the National Association for Gambling Studies (Australia), Vol. 24, No. 1, May 2012

Gambling Help Online – Understanding Gambling: Impact on Health: Gambling and alcohol

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation – Prevention projects for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation – Background Paper. Risk factors for problem gambling: environmental, geographic, social, cultural, demographic, socio-economic, family and household. 2015

University of Tasmania Faculty of Health: Centre for Rural Health 2018 – Occurrence and Correlates of Gambling Behaviour among International UTAS Students, A report commissioned by the Department of Health and Human Services Tasmania

Dickins, M., & Thomas, A. (2016). Gambling in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities in Australia (AGRC Discussion Paper No. 7). Melbourne: Australian Gambling Research Centre, Australian Institute of Family Studies.

Hing, N., & Breen, H. (2014). Indigenous Australians and gambling (AGRC Discussion Paper No. 2). Melbourne: Australian Gambling Research Centre

At Odds: Young Australians Gamble “Hard and Fast”

Thomas, S. and Jackson, A. (2008). Report to beyondblue: Risk and Protective Factors, Depression and Comorbidities in Problem Gambling, Monash University and University of Melbourne; Department of Human Services (2009). Because mental health matters: Victorian Mental Health Reform Strategy 2009-19, Mental Health and Drugs Division, Department of Human Services, Melbourne.

Interactive Gambling (November 2014). Australian Gambling Research Centre Discussion Paper – Gainsbury, S.  et al

Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation – Gen Bet: Has Gambling Gatecrashed our Teens? 2017

Australian Productivity Commission (1999) Australian Gambling Industries, Report No.10, AusInfo, Canberra

Gambling Motivated Fraud in Australia 2011 – 2016 Warfield and Associates

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For example, men are at an increased risk for problem gambling. Rates of problem gambling are higher in adolescents than in adults, and decline with age. Lower socio-economic status is a risk factor, as is lower educational attainment and lower income. Studies report higher rates of problem gambling in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people than other population groups. Access to gaming venues has been linked to increased risk of problem gambling. There is some evidence that rates of problem gambling are higher among correctional populations.

Loneliness and social isolation

Studies show that loneliness increases risk of problem gambling. Risk can be heightened for women and culturally and linguistically diverse people who find it hard to engage and socialise in their community.

Alcohol and drug use

Gambling and alcohol often go together as a way to socialise with friends, family and work colleagues. For some people, drinking alcohol can affect the person’s capacity to make decisions around their gambling.  This can result in them spending more money and staying in the venue for longer than they might do otherwise.

Gambling predominantly on pokies

People who seek help for gambling problems are significantly more likely to be users of poker machines than any other gambling product.

Cultural factors

Although people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities living in developed countries gamble less than the overall population, those that do gamble can experience higher degrees of gambling related harm.  This can be due to social isolation as well as stigma surrounding cultural beliefs about seeking help.

International university students, (and university students more generally), tend to engage in gambling less often than young people in the general population. However, international students who do engage in gambling – male students in particular – are more likely to exhibit problem gambling behaviour than both domestic students and young people more generally.

People of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island backgrounds have a higher risk of developing a problem with gambling. Rates of help seeking are low with people usually turning to family, friends and their community for help first – if they do seek help at all.

Read more about cultural factors.

Age and gender

People of all ages can develop gambling problems (even teenagers!) Problem gambling occurs more often in people aged between 18 and 30 than in other age groups, with the most common type of gambling amongst that age group being poker machines.  However, sports betting is rapidly increasing in this age group.  Young males are more likely to develop a problem with gambling than females, and often don’t seek help.  When they do, it is often for other issues such as substance abuse or mental health issues.

Even though gambling is illegal for young people under 18s, approximately 60 to 80 per cent of young people under 18 have gambled, with the majority using scratch tickets/lotteries and card games at home.

Young people

Gambling products and promotions are visible to young people and children  in many settings – the newsagency, TV, pubs and clubs, sports events, movies and the family home to name a few! It’s not surprising young people may see gambling as normal, and take an interest. Young people are known to like to take risks, be influenced by peers and behave impulsively, and when easy access to gambling is put in the mix, the risks of developing gambling problems  are heightened. Commercial gambling is illegal for those under 18.

Young people under 18 are also gambling on pokies (9 per cent),  race betting (28 per cent) and sports betting (21 per cent) with the assistance of family or another adult.

If you’re discussing gambling with young people let them know there are risks with gambling, and that gambling isn’t a way to make money. The odds of winning, and the house edge are strongly in favour of the gambling provider.

Gen Bet: 
Has gambling gatecrashed our teens?
Read about a young person who starts gambling to escape the pain of family problems and being bullied as a child.

A mother talks about her 23 year old son’s gambling problems.

Lower income and education level

Lower socio-economic status, lower education level and living in disadvantaged areas are risk factors for problem gambling. In Tasmania some lower socio-economic areas have higher numbers of poker machines per capita than other areas.

Occupation

People in some work situations may be at greater risk of developing gambling problems. These include being employed in a gambling venue and being a shift worker. People who are unemployed or under-employed are also considered at greater risk.

Family/household

The home environment can impact on the risk of being affected adversely by gambling. People who have been abused or traumatized, people who are homeless, and being the child of a person with a gambling problem all increase the risk of a person developing gambling problems. Gambling problems can be linked to victims and perpetrators of family violence.

Early big win

Having an early big win can lead to the false belief that it will happen again. Gamblers often consider their wins as proof that they can win again and so they keep chasing another win.

Not understanding how gambling works

Many people who play poker machines, Keno, lotteries and other games of chance think they can influence their chances of winning, by using ‘systems’, acting on a ‘hunch’, thinking ‘positively’ or looking for what they think are ‘lucky’ signs.  Sometimes, these false beliefs influence how they bet, and this can lead to problems.

The key thing to remember is that nothing can change the odds of you winning on a game of chance, either in the short term or long term. Whether or not you win playing a game of chance is based solely on the randomly drawn numbers generated by the machine’s computer.

How rates of play and bet amounts affect loss rate.

Many people don't understand the house edge.

Many people wrongly believe they can influence games of chance. This video explains.