By Cr Matt Tyler
“Chances are you’re about to lose,” “you win some, you lose more” and “what’s gambling really costing you?”
These are some of the messages online gambling companies will be forced to tell their customers thanks to recent changes introduced by the federal government.
My childhood was shaped by Dad’s gambling addiction.
From stealing money to flogging our meagre Christmas presents which Mum had cobbled together, we’d never know what would happen next.
Dad had so much potential and yet he lived a life of poverty – crippled by his addiction and doing so much damage over his journey.
There is a strong link between gambling harm and family violence, poor psychological health and wellbeing, and negative impacts on relationships.
This is about so much more than losing money and gambling harm is not just experienced by ‘problem gamblers’.
People considered low and moderate-risk gamblers make up 85 per cent of those who experience gambling harm.
As with other public health challenges such as smoking and skin cancer, harms can be addressed, and every level of government has responsibility.
In 2021, there were 948 gambling ads a day on Victorian free-to-air TV.
That’s up 253 per cent since 2016.
The federal government has the power to control this advertising.
Noting recent progress, more needs to be done to reign in gambling companies.
The state government has made important progress through its royal commission into Crown Melbourne Limited, including requiring patrons to pre-commit to the amount of money and time they’re prepared to lose playing poker machines.
People often chase their losses, so this is a sensible and modest response.
With the unanimous support of my fellow councillors, I took a motion to the Municipal Association of Victoria’s October state council – the body that represents every council in the state – to advocate to the Victorian Government to extend Crown’s pre-commitment mechanism to all gaming venues. It was passed with 93 per cent support.
councils also have responsibility to prevent and reduce gambling harm.
To this end, we are seeking community input to update our gambling harm policy in Hobsons Bay.
You can contribute at participate.hobsonsbay.vic.gov.au/gambling-harm-prevention-policy before January 20, 2023.
I’d like to wish you all a safe and happy festive season.
