Transcript Slide 1

The role of local government in
reducing vulnerability to
Problem Gambling
Susan Rennie
Problem Gambling Health Promotion Advisor
Lyn’s
Story
Text is replacing photo
I would like to start my presentation by introducing you to Lyn. Lyn,
aged 64, is in trouble…
She lives in her home a few kms north of the city. It is a modest home,
rather run down but due to location her rates are now $1400 / annum.
The pensioner discount brings that down slightly but Lyn can’t afford to
pay. She is also worried about her telephone, gas and electricity being
cut off.
Early retirement a few years ago to care for aged mum.
Respite worker didn’t want Lyn in the house when she was there. She
didn’t really know where to go.
Her Mum suggested the local RSL club because that is where the PAG
group used to go for lunches. Lyn when to gaming venue.
Became a habit. Soon went there every time she had respite.
Lyn’s mum died two months ago.
Now Lyn is at a loose end. She has been going more frequently to the
RSL and whilst she is not spending hundreds each visit, over the
course of the last few weeks she has lost $800.
She hasn’t been seeing much of her family, they moved to an outer
suburb.Tries not to make calls because of cost and has no money for
petrol for her car.
Lyn feels very stuck. Doesn’t want to gamble but has lost touch with
friends, family and has few connections in the community.
Meanwhile in an outer suburb, Lyn’s grandson has a few problems of
his own…
Tom’s
Story
Tom lives in Greenvale heights on Melbourne’s outer fringe. He
was doing pretty well until a few months ago. In a preapprenticeship program, playing footy lots with local footy club.
When Tom turned 18 he went for a few drinks at footy club. His
mates shouted him.
Next week, it was Tom’s shout. Didn’t have enough money so
popped into the gaming room next door, hoping to get lucky.
Worst thing happened. Tom won $188. He spent the lot shouting
the team drinks.
Tom got a rush. He was the man of the night. Popped in mid
week to try his luck again. Pretty soon he was popping in
frequently and loosing all his money from part time job.
Tom started getting pretty angry. Mates noticed and gave him
hard time about playing so Tom started going to an alternative
venue in town. On enigh, Tom got really drunk and angry. He
smashed machine at club and was asked not to come back. Tom
dropped out of footy.
Instead, he started going into city and trying his luck at the
Casino. No bus back from the city at night so he was often there
all night, if not in the casino then in the city drinking and getting
into a few fights. Picked up by police one night and put in a cell
to dry off.
Data on gambling
Net EGM expenditure per adult
Ci
ty
A comparison of projected rates and EGM losses
$ millions
Projected rates 2008/09
Ya
rr a
es
ea
W
hi
ttl
bi
k
Ni
llu
m
an
d
or
el
M
Hu
m
e
EGM losses 2007/08
Da
re
bi
n
Ba
ny
ul
e
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
ct
or
ia
Vi
of
Ba
ny
ul
Ci
e
ty
of
Da
re
bi
Ci
n
ty
of
Hu
Ci
m
ty
e
of
M
or
Ci
el
ty
an
of
d
W
hi
ttl
es
ea
Ci
ty
of
Sh
Ya
ire
r ra
of
Ni
llu
m
bi
k
$1,000.00
$800.00
$600.00
$400.00
$200.00
$0.00
Data on gambling
Relationship between SEIFA score and EGM losses
1120
1100
Nillumbik
SEIFA score
1080
Yarra
1060
Banyule
1040
1020
Moreland
1000
Darebin
980
Whittlesea
960
Relationship between SEIFA and no. of machines
1120
Nillumbik
1100
0
100
200
300
400
500
$ lost per adult
1080
SEIFA index
Hume
940
Yarra
1060
Banyule
1040
1020
1000
Moreland
Darebin
980
Whittlesea
960
Hume
940
0
2
4
6
8
No. of machines per 1000 adults
10
600
700
800
900
1000
Potential harms from gambling
Individuals
- stress,
depression,
anxiety, MH
issues
- job loss
- financial
hardship
- family and
relationship
issues
- loss of social
supports and
community
connections
Family
Friends
- family neglect,
domestic
violence,
relationship
breakdown
- poverty
- homelessness
- stigma and
social isolation
Workplaces
Groups, Clubs
- absenteeism
- job loss
- poor
performance
- theft
- lower
participation
rates
Communities
- reduced
resources
available
- increased
reliance on
welfare supports
- community
disempowerment
Society
- fewer jobs
created by
spending on
EGMs than other
spending
- regressive tax
- loss of
confidence in
government due
to perceived
conflict of
interest
- increased
crime and
associated costs
Determinants of problem gambling
• Low socio-economic status especially
education / income levels
• High EGM density / spending
• Poor mental health and well-being
• Low knowledge and awareness
• Cultural attitudes and values
• Poor social connectedness
• Individual differences
Protective factors
• Community engagement and social
connections
• Quality education and employment
• Freedom from violence and discrimination
• Community facilities and quality recreation
and leisure opportunities
Environments for Health
Built / physical environment
• Land use planning
• Transport and traffic management
• Recreation facilities
Social environment
• Community support
• Art and cultural development
• Library services
Economic environment
• Community economic development
• Access and equity
Natural environment
• Water quality
• Waste management
• Energy consumption
Northern PCP initiative
Goal
Strengthen communities in the NMR so that
they are less vulnerable to problem
gambling
Objectives
1.
2.
Increase the number and range of health
promotion interventions which are taking place
which address problem gambling and its broader
determinants.
Increase the number of partnerships involving
PCP member agencies which are working to
address the determinants of problem gambling.
Example 1
Reducing the vulnerability of CALD groups
• GHN has undertaken work with an identified atrisk CALD group for 18 months
– Group profile: low income & education levels, CALD
community, high reported rates of problem gambling
and family violence
• GHN work focused on social connectedness,
alternatives to gambling and responsible
gambling awareness
• Group continued to organise trips to the Casino
believing that none of their members gambled,
they just went for the good value meal…
Building capacity
• PCP worked with GHN to undertake some research
that could provide the group with better knowledge
about actual spending so that the group could make
informed decisions
• Findings: Actual overall spending was over $1000 vs
perceived cost of trip $270, several group members
demonstrated Problem Gambling patterns, in
particular planning to “chase losses”
• As a result of the research the group are not
planning to organise future outings to the Casino
and are writing this into their association’s policy.
They are translating the findings into their
community language.
Next steps
Northern
PCP
Initiative
Gamblers Help
Northern
Centre for
Ethnicity and
Health
Work with the Casino and other gaming venues to raise the
issue of marketing and the responsible provision of
gaming and wagering.
Migrant
Resource
Centre
Form partnerships to work with communities to encourage
them to consider alternatives to gaming related outings
Develop risk reduction strategies to assist CALD groups
and associations to build protective factors around their
members if they continue to undertake these outings
Ethnic
Communitie
s Council of
Victoria
Ethnic
associations
Example 2
Influencing systemic change
• Conversations with staff at various
agencies identified that workers
sometimes take groups to gaming venues
• This exposed some people to risk
• How can we stop this occurring?
Policy response
Barriers…
• “this is what we have always done…”
• “people can choose not to gamble…”
• “there are no good alternatives with cheap
food and good access…”
• “it’s really difficult to change policies in our
agency…”
• “the clients want to go there…”
Enablers
• Community attitudes and concern
regarding pokies
• Resources
• Champions
• Capacity Building
Back
to
Lyn
Lyn went to a free lunch organized by the Council for International
women’s day.
At the same time, council implemented a follow up program for people who
were late paying rates. In this program they asked about financial matters
including gambling, made referrals , offered counseling and a work it off
scheme that enabled people in financial difficulty to get a further discount
by volunteering in different community settings.
Lyn got connected to the living books program at the library. She found
that she like the library, very different from her youth when it was just
books, had no idea that there were now magazines, music and free
internet access.
Lyn looked into the local neighbourhood house and U3A. She found they
had some good programs and was interested in singing for pleasure and
internet for beginners.
Waste management services developed a partnership with the Office of
Housing to reduce rubbish dumping in the local streets. With the area
cleaned up, Lyn went for more walks in the area and reconnected with a
few neighbours she hadn’t seen much since she started caring for her
mum.
Council sustainability services implanted a home auditing program for
pensioners in the area. They then assisted people to make changes. Lyn’s
bills went down a lot and this helped her get her finances back on track.
With more money in her purse, Lyn filed up her car and went out to
Greenvale Heights to see her grandson.
Back
To
Tom
Tom’s Council became concerned when they saw data in The Age
identifying their municipality as one where most young people caught
up in city violence came from.
They invited young people who had been arrested by the police to
participate with them in developing responses. The first issue that
came up was the lack of community transport back to Greenvale
Heights at night.
Council developed a partnership with the school bus company and
organised a volunteer bus driver program which included bus driver
training for people willing to drive the bus into the city on Friday and
Saturday nights to pick up young people from the area who needed to
get home. One of the stops was the Casino.
Council also changed the grant program so that clubs with pokies
could no longer access council grants nor assistance with writing
applications for other grants. Council made the footy club aware of
some of the young people who had started gambling in that context.
With a review of licensing arrangements coming up, the footy club
decided not to apply for a new license.
Council leisure and recreation services organized a number of Get
back to sport events for young people in the area who had dropped out
of sporting clubs in their late teens. As part of this initiative Council
worked with sports clubs on ways to reengage kids who had dropped
out and how to make sport appealing to young people transitioning
from education to employment.
Tom joined the steering committee of this initiative as a consumer
representative. He got back into footy and started a carpentry
apprenticeship the following year.
Thank You
• For more information or to follow up:
[email protected]