traps…it’s hard to be a parent today. Young people today want to be entertained and that’s why they go to the club – and some start playing the pokies and end up in trouble.
Loyalty cards are evil.
The club bombards him with all those pamphlets offering prizes and special deals. I used to try to get to the mail before he saw it.
priorities lie?’ showing someone buying a lottery ticket instead of bread and milk.
Female self-identified problem gamblers
There is a need for a counselling service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Also, there should be a free phone service in the clubs where gamblers can call and get picked up before all their money is gone. The problem is that you can’t get away from the machines – you have to be physically removed from it.
There is a need for a service which is gentle, challenging and supportive at the same time. As a woman I would prefer women only group counselling. Sharing experiences and giving each other support – that’s what I need.
I’d like a support group, but help should be visible – not hidden in a church basement.
An emergency service would be great. Just to touch base and talk about how one feels. My ideal world would be that someone would be there in the club all the time to help when I need help.
A phone near the ATM would be great. That’s when you empty your account and need help. People could call when they need it the most.
I would prefer an all-women support group. I could never relate to men or their problems.
An indication of how long you’ve spent on the machine would be helpful.
The gambling help signs on the machines aren’t hitting the target. They don’t mean anything. Who admits they have a gambling problem? That’s like asking
‘are you a drunk’?
I’m not sure if the education campaigns are effective. You never see yourself as that person until you’re past it.
I believe ATMs should be limited to $100 withdrawals. I would like to see ATMs removed from clubs. It would be wonderful to pull them out. If ATMs were removed, I would make sure I had $50 to gamble with and then would go home when that money was spent. No ATMs at the club would be an effective restriction to control my gambling. Also, note acceptors make spending easier.
The removal of note acceptors would be an effective deterrent as using only coins slows me down.
They [clubs] should put more money back into community from winnings.
I’d like to see energetic, lively dancing programs; 12 o’clock closing of clubs;
the removal of ATMs from clubs; the removal of note acceptors; alternative things to do at the club; and the pokies removed from hotels.
Family and Friends
He needed better counselling. And I needed someone who would tell me that it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know what to look for. The gambling support services should be promoted much stronger.
There should be an Aboriginal program developed by Aboriginals for Aboriginals. One has to address more than just the gambling. Gambling is just a part of the problem.
I needed someone to take him away and deal with him. I didn’t want to leave him alone in his misery. He needed help. Because his English wasn’t that good, he needed a support worker who could help organise the practical things.
Community education would be good with a presentation on the signs and impacts of problem gambling. If I’d known the signs I could have reacted much earlier.
If I would have realised earlier, I could have had a better influence. We need more awareness of the problem. As with most of us, I thought it can’t happen to me. Instead of having stickers on the machines that gambling can cause problems, they should have quotes running over the pokies saying ‘Have you seen your children today?’ or ‘Have you paid your bills today?’ These are the real live messages.
The removal of ATMs would have made a difference. It is good when my brother has to plan how to get money. This stops him acting impulsively. My brother would use the ATM at club to access money. He could even do this to overdraw on his account when the bank’s ATMs were down. He learnt how to access money even when he had no money in the account from ATMs when the bank’s systems were down from other gamblers at the club. Also, payouts in cheques would be good for my brother as he hates cheques because he can’t spend the money straight away.
I looked at his bank statements: $20, $20, $20 - $100 a day. All withdrawals made within the clubs. I don’t understand why there are ATMs in clubs. If you have EFTPOS why do you need ATMs? They shouldn’t have note acceptors.
The damage is big enough already and more damage is done so quickly.
The people working at the clubs should have good training. They should be sort of a social worker.
More consistent help; more involvement than just a phone call; and more readily accessible information about what help is available.
Maybe the mental health people could be educated [about problem gambling issues] too.
If you have a problem you don’t want to spend all your energy trying to find help. It has to be easy.
I think that cost and affordability would be very important for any woman seeking help for their partner’s gambling, especially if the money has all been gambled. … Services have to be fully funded. Counselling is not on Medicare either and can be very expensive. My partner has used that as an excuse.
Strange though, when they can find money to gamble with. So if there’s to be counselling or emotional support it needs to be free or it won’t be used to its best effect.
I would like to see family members allowed to exclude their relatives from the club. Also, key cards could be issued by the club to activate the machines. The key cards then could not be given to people with gambling problems.
I would like to see somewhere that families could go for help.
Having good support networks is a critical factor in preventing or helping gambling problems.
8 Analysis of Findings
This section draws on the data provided by people interviewed in the ACT and on other relevant research to explore underlying themes about gender, culture and help- seeking behaviour in the ACT.
With a specific focus on gender and cultural groups, this study has sought to investigate the experiences of problem gamblers and their friends and families when seeking help. Research set out to examine:
• the main contributing factors to the development of problem gambling from the perspective of gamblers themselves;
• features of the gambling environment that contribute to gambling problems;
• factors that prompted people to seek help;
• self-help strategies used by gamblers, families and friends to address the problem;
• whether people have sought help from community agencies and other professionals and the effectiveness of that assistance in reducing gambling problems; and
• any barriers preventing access to gambling help services.
We found that the genesis of problem gambling, the nature of problems that develop and the steps that people take to seek help cannot necessarily be attributed to distinct groups such as men, women or specific cultural groups. Rather, the picture that emerges from this study is one of diversity and complexity. No clear, uniform pattern of behaviour or gambling problems can be identified. Research has also revealed the complexity of issues behind terms such as ‘problem gambling’ and ‘help’. The different experiences and needs of gamblers, friends and families appear to be affected by the particular social context of their lives.
While providing valuable insight into the lives and experiences of problem gamblers in the ACT, the research findings must be treated with some caution. For example, the very small number of self-identified problem gamblers identified in this study cannot be used to estimate the prevalence of problem gambling in the ACT. Nor is it possible to generalise from the experiences of the women and men interviewed to propose reliable conclusions about the gendered aspects of problem gambling and help- seeking.
Moreover, the number of participants who reported they have sought professional help for gambling problems (eg from the Lifeline counselling services) was relatively small. Consequently the information obtained from participants on those services and help seeking behaviours is only indicative.
Other factors contributing to the limitations of this study were difficulties identifying the target communities and the sensitive nature of the subject in cultural communities.
Regrettably, one of the main research objectives – to recruit and interview people from different cultural groups in the ACT who have experienced gambling problems – was not achieved. While face-to-face interviews proved to be a highly effective
technique to obtain detailed information about the experiences and perceptions of the people who volunteered for the study, the study could not recruit a representative cross-section of social groups or locate cultural participants for face-to-face interviews.
Problem gambling is a sensitive subject, and more sensitive in some cultures than in others. It was apparent from interviews with ACT cultural organisations that there is a high level of suspicion in these communities about the topic, not least because they fear being targeted and stigmatised. Thus we have had to rely largely on evidence from research elsewhere to provide some insight into the experiences and perspectives of cultural communities (Section 5 – Literature Review). As explained below, a precise understanding of problem gambling and help-seeking behaviour of cultural communities in the ACT would require considerably more time and resources than were available for this project.