2.9 P ROBLEM G AMBLING S ERVICES IN THE ACT
2.9.2 Other gambling counselling services
• Inconsistent reporting categories from year to year. For example, new clients were not differentiated prior to 1999-2000 and telephone inquiries have not been reported since 2000-01.
• The figures for 2002-03 therefore are not directly comparable with figures for previous years. As noted above (Table 1), first time appointments which were not attended have been excluded from the 2002-03 data; and 2002-03 percentages are reported as a proportion of new gambling clients while the percentage figures for all other years are reported as a proportion of all new clients, inclusive of non-gamblers.
• Figures vary from one report to the next or do not appear to collate. For example, 150 total new clients for 1999-2000 are reported in the 2000-01 Annual Report; these are broken down to 127 gamblers, five couples and ten family members presenting for assistance. This totals to only 142 new clients, not 150.
• Ambiguous, inconsistent and confusing classification of data series. For example, in the 2002-03 Annual Report the table with ‘gender’ data is reported as ‘new clients with a gambling problem only’; the table listing ‘age of new clients’ is reported as ‘excluding family members’; and the ‘major type of gambling’ table is reported as ‘new clients only’. These inconsistencies prevent meaningful comparisons of data sets;
• Inconsistent information: for example, the 2002-03 Annual Report indicates that financial counselling is available 38 hours/week (p.26) and 42.5 hours/week (p.28).
2.9.2 Other gambling counselling services
• BetSafe provides information about its services in a number of different languages with pamphlets on its services being available in English and other community languages at club venues.
Three Canberra clubs in the Labor group are currently members of Betsafe.76 They are:
• Canberra Labor Club (225 EGMs)
• Ginninderra Labor Club (95 EGMs)
• Weston Creek Football Club (63 EGMs)
There is no resident Betsafe counsellor in Canberra. To assist problem gamblers in Canberra, a counsellor must travel down from Sydney.
CARE Inc. Financial Counselling and Legal Services
In 2001, cross-referrals appeared to operate regularly between GAFCS and CARE, in so far as the gambling problem involved financial counselling. However, at the time this service was creating considerable strain on CARE’s financial and staff resources.
Representatives of CARE consulted for this study indicated that they now direct any gambling inquiries immediately to Lifeline.
Relationships Australia
In 2001 Relationships Australia provided regular counselling and mediation for problems which arose as a result of gambling. The ACT branch of Relationships Australia no longer provides counselling to residents with gambling problems. Rather, the agency now refers people seeking help for problem gambling issues directly to Lifeline or to the Sydney branch of Relationships Australia.
The Relationships Australia website has a ‘problem gambling’ link to two telephone numbers:
• One telephone counselling number refers inquiries directly to Lifeline.
However the contact telephone number provided by relationships Australia is not Lifeline’s 24 hour number.
• The other telephone number on the website connects to Relationships Australia’s ACT office. In response to an inquiry by the research team the receptionist was unable to provide information about where to get help for problem gambling. We were informed that ‘it is hard to say how many call in with gambling problems; maybe 5%’.
Canberra Counselling Services
This general counselling agency provides counselling across a range of issues, including for people with gambling problems. The agency has been operating in Canberra for ten years with one counsellor who sees ‘half a dozen or so’ people experiencing gambling problems each year. The counsellor uses an ‘holistic’ approach as ‘clients often have other problems as well’, eg relationship breakdown.77 The agency reported that it has not had any indigenous clients, and only one or two from other cultural groups: ‘Ethnic people don’t get into gambling problems, or if they do
76 A fourth member of the Labor group of clubs, the Canberra Workers Club, is closed for demolition and rebuilding.
77 Interview, Canberra Counselling Service 2004.
they don’t come here’. Generally the agency does not refer to Lifeline unless the client is ‘threatening self-harm’. Referrals are sometimes made to Gamblers Anonymous.
Salvation Army
We understand that the Salvation Army provides a gambling rehabilitation service in the ACT, including support for former prisoners with a gambling problem.78 However, no details of that service were provided to the research team.
NSW Multicultural Problem Gambling Service
The NSW Multicultural Problem Gambling Service (MCPGS) is a non-profit gambling counselling provider and referral agency based in Sydney.79 It is funded by the Casino Community Benefit Fund and is a joint initiative of the Community Relations Commission of NSW and the Western Sydney Area Health Service. The MCPGS was launched in April 2001. It is managed by the Transcultural Mental Health Centre and located in the grounds of Cumberland Hospital in North Parramatta, Sydney. We have included the MCPGS in this study after reports that the agency receives inquiries from and has provided a service to residents of the ACT at its Sydney location.
The MCPGS provides a statewide confidential service for problem gamblers of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and their families. The service provides both face-to-face and telephone counselling. Counselling is available in over 40 community languages representing 90% of all non-English speakers in NSW.80 MCPGS also offers:
• A free statewide comprehensive multilingual assessment and treatment service;
• A 24-hour Assistance Line;
• An intake service providing over-the-phone information, advice and referral;
• Peer support programs in community languages;
• Community education programs to raise awareness among ethnic communities of the impact of problem gambling on individuals and families;
and
• Consultation to mainstream agencies on cultural and social factors for problem gamblers.
An independent evaluation of the MCPGS was ‘extremely positive… A comprehensive and professional approach was taken to service delivery, and the service offering was extensive and appropriate’.81 One of the service’s strengths is its
78 ABC Radio National (2004) The Law Report. http://www.abc.rn.au/, accessed July 2004.
79 Multicultural Problem Gambling Service http://www.mpgs.nsw.gov.au/, accessed July 2004.
80 Cultural Perspectives P/L (2003) NSW Multicultural Problem Gambling Service. Service Evaluation, Final Report.
81 ibid., p.8.
capacity to match a client’s ethnicity and language with that of a bilingual counsellor;
this is proving effective in meeting client needs.82
Staff turnover at MCPGS is relatively high, however. Current funding arrangements mean that staff contracts expire annually and job insecurity has led to considerable staff changes.83
82 ibid., p.6.
83 Multicultural Problem Gambling Service (2003). Six Month Progress Report.
3 Methodology
This research project utilised a range of conventional qualitative approaches, including an extensive literature review, community consultation, in-depth interviews with stakeholders including persons who have or considered seeking help for gambling problems.
This section provides a detailed overview of the methodological procedures adopted for this study. It starts with a review of the broad issues affecting the research project and the chosen methodology and then moves onto the more detailed specifics of the data collection phase of the study.