Page 3320 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 19 October 2022
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MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Cain.
MR BARR: If people do not take up their opportunity, Madam Speaker, that is provided, then there is only so much the government can do. But I am a big fan of the use of technology and for many people being able to engage online in their own time is a preferred method of engagement. So we will certainly look at the range of options that are available. But again, I repeat the point. This is a small part of the City Renewal Authority’s responsibilities. It is a levy that was inherited. It was not a creation of the City Renewal Authority. This existed well before. It made sense at the time of the creation of the Authority not to have two city agencies: one sitting in the private sector and another in the public sector, managing a very small amount of money. So for the sake of efficiency and coordination it was brought together.
Gambling—harm minimisation
DR PATERSON: My question is to the Minister for Gaming. Minister, this week is Gambling Harm Awareness Week. Can you please update the Assembly on what activities have been planned by the ACT government for the week?
MR RATTENBURY: Yes, it is Gambling Harm Awareness Week. This is a really important opportunity that happens each year. We usually line up with New South Wales and Queensland to undertake this. Each year the Gambling and Racing Commission deliver the program. They seek to facilitate community discussion about gambling harm and its science, to promote action to reduce gambling harm and to support people experiencing gambling harm.
This year they have drawn on the work of last year’s experiences. This year the theme is “Voices of gambling harm”, giving voice to lived experience where possible. This goes further, in that the agency is really trying to work with partners so that it does not come across as government lecturing people to not get involved but rather using the voice of lived experience to hear stories that members of the community can relate to. This is a good approach that the commission has developed after conducting this for a number of years now.
In terms of events, there are a number going on. The ACT Gambling Support Service is hosting two public information, awareness and support service stalls this week, one in Tuggeranong and one in Gungahlin. There are a series of direct communications from the Gambling and Racing Commission, which will focus on the role of the commission. There was also an event that Dr Paterson, Mr Parton and I attended yesterday morning at the Vikings Club in Erindale, where Markus Fischer spoke of his personal experience. Markus is a peer support worker with Relationships Australia. He talked about the impact gambling had had on his life in a very personal way. I thank him for that because, in sharing his own difficult experiences, he gave us real insights into the issues that he faced from a policy point of view, as we seek to think about these issues as lawmakers and as members of this place.
DR PATERSON: Minister, given that we know that gambling advertising adversely impacts our community, do you support the call to the federal government to ban gambling advertising on TV?
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