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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 831 ..

MR WHITECROSS (continuing):

In relation specifically to the social costs of problem gambling, what are they? There is a lot of material that draws on personal experience and anecdotal evidence in other States which suggests that such social costs include marriage and family breakdown, homelessness, socially dysfunctional behaviour and suicide. Are these also the results of addictive or excessive gambling in the ACT as well, and what is the incidence? We need a social impact study to find out.

There are two main organisations in the ACT that deal with problem gambling. The Gambling Crisis Counselling Service offers a telephone counselling service which is solely volunteer based. It operates 24 hours a day and receives approximately 100 calls a month, without government funding. One hundred calls a month is significant enough to warrant a social impact study into the effects of gambling in the ACT. Lifeline, the other provider, offers a different type of service. Although it has a 24-hour crisis line, its primary service is providing personal case management services for people with gambling problems. It has personal contact with around 700 Canberrans a year. These services are both very good and very dedicated to dealing with the problem of gambling in the ACT, but how do we know whether they are reaching everyone in need? Lifeline has only recently had to reduce the hours of its gambling counsellor by five hours a week due to funding problems. Lifeline does require further funding and commitment from government and the industry. The funding received by Lifeline is not enough to cover administration costs, nor is it adequate to cover educational and promotional activities.

Education and prevention are integral to ensuring that problem gambling is contained as much as possible. It is very clear that more can be done, and examination of the effectiveness of past programs and suggestions for future education programs is, I believe, necessary. The study will have to be done to prove me correct. Before any such educational and promotional campaigns can be designed, it is essential that the gaming industry and related support services are in tune with community attitudes about gambling. An effective strategy must know whom to target and how to appeal to them. This cannot be adequately achieved without knowing the profile of gamblers in the ACT.

No-one can deny the importance of the gaming industry in the ACT. The tourism potential, the employment and the social entertainment value associated with it are an integral part of the life of the Territory. But just how big a role does gambling play for people in the ACT? How many times do they visit their local club and play poker machines in one week or one month? Are people spending money gambling at the expense of other forms of entertainment or instead of purchasing whitegoods or a new pair of jeans? These are the kinds of concerns that are being raised in Victoria at the moment.

The effect of gambling on the retail sector must be explored in depth. For so long, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party have been talking about the importance of the private sector to the future of the ACT. We must be very careful when considering what the effect of issuing further gaming machine licences will be on the retail sector's and the private sector's ability to grow and flourish. The social and economic impact study I am proposing will also delve into the vexed question of the likely social and economic consequences of extending gaming machines into pubs, taverns, hotels or the casino.

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