News

A new memorandum of understanding inked between the State Government and Clubs NSW will give the chance to families of gambling addicts to have their loved ones suspended from gambling facilities. Under the new opportunity, called a “third-party exclusion” plan, problem gamblers’ family members will be able to anonymously require from gambling venues to ban their loved ones in order for the latter to get professional treatment set to help them beat their addiction. Josh Landis, Clubs NSW’s executive manager of public affairs, explained that under the policy, if a…

Tauranga City Council has made a proposal for the first step towards eliminating poker machines in the city, as it is to review the policy which sets out the number and location of gambling venues which could be set up in Tauranga. The policy also sets out the number of pokies which can operate in the city. Public consultations on the so-called Gambling Venues Policy 2019 are set to open on October 15th, with the entire community being given the chance to share their opinion at the City Council’s website…

A Warrnambool, Victoria-based organisation which is aimed at providing help and support for problem gamblers and their families has explained that the harm inflicted by gambling on such people’s lives cannot be measured only in money but is a lot larger than that. Speaking during the events of the Gambling Harm Awareness Week, Tracie McPherson who is currently the manager of therapeutic and children’s services at Bethany Community Support, shared that gambling-related harm is also measured in the impact it has on people’s lives, as well as on the lives…

Residents of Whittlesea have backed the local council’s efforts to reduce the number of poker machines in the municipality. Recently, a community attitudes and liveability survey has been conducted by the local council in order for the latter to examine the characteristics, needs, behaviours and expectations of the Whittlesea community. Various aspects of local people’s lives, including employment, health and well-being, gambling habits, environmental sustainability, etc. were reviewed at the time of the survey, in order for the city council to get a better perspective of the community. As a…

Pupils at St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Salisbury, Wilts, have revealed that gambling operators have been literally bombarding them with ads. Some of the students have been among the 650 teenagers who have taken part in trial lessons which have been especially held in order to raise the under-aged individual’s awareness of possible gambling-related harm. The trial lessons have been designed and held after the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has released a report suggesting that up to 25,000 of the children between 11 and 16 years can be categorised as…

The UK-based gambling operator Rank Group has felt a backlash from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for its failure to comply with the regulatory body’s customer protection rules. The company will be forced to pay £500,000 for three major failures in terms of ensuring protection for players who suffer from problem gambling. An investigation held by the Commission showed that the company failed to interact with a customer who was demonstrating problem gambling behaviour, reached him during a period of self-exclusion and also failed to comply with the rules under…

A cross-party coalition consisting of political parties and Church of England representatives has insisted that a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling advertising during live sports events is just not enough. Instead, the coalition between the Conservative peer in the House of Lords Lord Chadington and the Church of England, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party has demanded from minister to close the loophole which provides gambling operators with the chance to target children and more vulnerable individuals through their ads offering “live odds” bets both on…

Mental health specialists and representatives of GambleAware have revealed that Ireland needs to urgently roll out a nation-wide survey to reveal actual problem gambling and gambling addiction rates in the country. As reported by the Irish Examiner, the Health Research Board (HRB) reveived a freedom of information request, has shown that a total of 195 people were assessed as problem gamblers and faced treatment for gambling addiction back in 2016. In comparison, there were 208 such cases in 2015. Unfortunately, Colin O’Gara, a psychiatrist and addiction therapist, claims that the…

The Illawarra Steelers Rugby League Club in Wollongong has suffered a massive blow due to a record AU$100,000 fine which was imposed on the venue for it offering free drinks and large cash incentives to encourage patrons to spend more on its poker machines. The violations happened under Scott Miles, the former general manager of the club, who is currently in jail for misappropriating AU$1 million from the venue to fund his compulsive gambling. He has also received a life-long ban from the industry. LIFE BAN: Former secretary of the…

The Alliance for Gambling Reform, an Australian movement aimed at reducing gambling-related harm, revealed yesterday that the losses on notorious poker machines reached a record high of AU$246.2 million in August 2018. The figure represented a 5.3% increase compared to the losses on pokies generated by the state’s residents in August 2017, with what was called a “disturbing trend” keeping its pace following the Victorian Parliament’s 2017 decision to greenlight poker licenses for new 20 years. The new statistics were rolled out at the beginning of the week by the…