Page 2074 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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MR PARTON: Minister, given Ms Le Couteur’s questions, is this government serious at all about harm minimisation in this space?
MR RAMSAY: I thank Mr Parton for the question. I think that is called a dorothy dixer! The question raised the seriousness of the ways that we are addressing gambling harm in the ACT. There are a broad range of ways. I am very proud to have been the Attorney-General who has been leading the work in relation to the reduction of gambling harm. One of the ways that that has occurred has been through the significant reduction in the number of electronic gaming machine authorisations during this term of government. There has been a more than 20 per cent decrease in the number of machine authorisations that are available.
I am very pleased, after having listened to the president’s club forum most recently, that the government has determined that we will have an additional period of time where clubs are able to seek a payment for a surrender of electronic gaming machines. There is a lot of work that happens under the oversight of the Gambling and Racing Commission, not only in the research to determine the prevalence of gambling here in the ACT but also in the support that happens through that fund, overseen by the Gambling and Racing Commission, to Lifeline and to other organisations that can support people who are suffering from gambling addiction, which we take extremely seriously. We certainly do not think it is anything like eating a little bit too much chocolate. We will continue to work to make sure that people who are affected by gambling harm are well supported and that we continue our work alongside the clubs, alongside the community organisations and alongside people with lived experience in this area to make sure that the impact of gambling is significantly reduced.
Education—student support
MS LEE: My question is to the Minister for Education and Early Childhood Development. Minister, what steps have you taken to ensure that students that have been left traumatised by the distressing and pornographic material are now receiving support?
MS BERRY: I have asked the Education Directorate to ensure that families are supported—not just families that are asking for that support but reaching out to families who have been directly impacted by this and are experiencing some trauma because of its serious nature and the unacceptable material that was emailed around to students on Friday.
I want to correct a couple of details for the record before I go on. Ms Lee said that emails had not gone out until seven-ish that evening. Because there are 55,000 students, whilst it was about making sure that the information that went out was correct and reassuring, and advising parents and families of the action that the Education Directorate was taking, it goes out in batches. The email started to be sent out at 5.40 that afternoon.
MS LEE: Minister, what are you doing to provide parents with appropriate advice on how to support their children, following these distressing emails?
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