Across Australia, there are plenty of education materials available to help problem gamblers spend their time and money responsibly. While the aim of these educational materials is to help encourage responsible gambling behaviour, there are concerns that they may be discouraging players from seeking professional help.

According to the Canberra Times, the state’s Gambling and Racing Commission will be carrying out a study to re-examine problem gambling resources. The decision to investigate these materials stems from the findings of an Australian National University study, which show that problem gambling’s social stigma is more severe than the stigma surround alcoholism and recreational drug use.

''The level of stigma with problem gamblers is so strong you need to be extremely careful about how you target your educational programs,'' says Greg Jones, Chief Executive of the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission. A major concern that was highlighted by the research is the term ‘gamble responsibly’. According to Mr Jones, the term could possibly put more pressure on problem gamblers and has the potential to worsen the stigma.

The overall result would be that the player would be reluctant to seek counselling, feeling embarrassed about their gambling spending. Less than 10% of problem gamblers seek professional help, and responsible gambling ads are likely to blame. “What that does is actually increase the pressure on the person that might not be gambling so responsibly”.

The Gambling Commission hopes to lessen the stigma, so that players will feel comfortable with seeking out counselling. To determine how to do so successful, the ACT’s Gambling Commission will interview problem gamblers who have sought assistance. They will be asked what their catalyst was for seeking help and how successful their treatment was.

The study will partially be funded by the NSW government.

About the Author

George Anderson
Author George, has over 25+ years’ experience in the Pokies and Casinos industry throughout Australia and New Zealand. Loves to research new Pokies games on the block and follows announcements from top industry providers about their upcoming releases. As soon as a new interesting pokie game appears on his radar, George is there to check it out and give you the scoop before anyone else and tell you about all casino sites where can play the latest game. Before this gig, George worked as Pokie game tester, making him an ideal candidate for this genre of work. He is also an animal lover and a proud owner of three dogs.