By Callum Ludwig
The Victorian Government announced on Friday 12 July that from 30 August this year, it will be mandatory for the gaming machine areas of pubs and clubs to close between the hours of 4am and 10am.
The Gambling Legislation Amendment Bill 2023 was discussed in October 2023 and received bipartisan support, other than the Victorian Opposition seeking a small amendment to the legislation to ensure it doesn’t disadvantage venues within three kilometres of Melbourne’s Crown Casino.
Community Engagement Officer for the Financial and Gambling Support Services at EACH Penny Christie said EACH and Gamblers Help welcome the change and are really pleased the Victorian government is starting to take it seriously.
“‘One of the issues has been that people who do have a problem with gambling have been able to go from venue to venue because the hours have been staggered in various gaming venues, so that allows people to go from one venue to another venue if they wish to continue gambling, which can be all part of an addiction,” she said.
“Now there’s a circuit breaker and for people who have got themselves into gambling difficulties, this might be something that might help to stop them in their tracks because they’re not allowed to continue to gamble,”
“It’s not probably as long as we would have liked them to be closed, but it’s a great start.”
EACH is the Gamblers Help operator for the LGAs of Yarra Ranges, Knox and Maroondah, providing a free program through trained therapeutic and financial counsellors for anyone experiencing gambling harm, or other people who may also be affected such as a gambler’s family members or friends.
Ms Christie services the Outer East, speaking at schools or community groups like Probus Clubs, working with homelessness and mental health organisations and partnering with the local councils and Eastern Health. In the Inner and Outer East, there is a Gamblers Help team of 26 people, highlighting the prevalence of this concern in the region.
Ms Christie said gambling has a ripple effect.
“The effect of gambling is not just on the person who’s gambling, it affects partners, work colleagues, friends and family members, if one person is negatively harmed by gambling then the effect can trickle down to 10 or more other people,” she said.
“For families it can have a considerable impact, you can imagine the financial impact without any of the other things, like the emotional toll, depression and anxiety and all the other mental health issues that go with it,”
“But the support from families and friends is absolutely imperative to help these people with a very difficult addiction to deal with.”
The change is part of sweeping gambling reforms announced by the Victorian Government in July 2023, which also included mandatory pre-commitment limits and carded play for gaming machines, capping load-up limits at $100 and making it mandatory for all new gaming machines to spin at three seconds per game to slow down the speed at which money can be lost.
Ms Christie said it’s the people who struggle with gambling issues that the change will be helpful for while the majority of people will conntibue to be responsible gamblers, not that she likes that term.
“Things like carded play, where you actually have to try and predestined how much you’re planning to spend and play from a card rather than the ability to be able to put coins or notes into the machines, in many ways might make a difference as well in making it more difficult for people that have a significant problem,” she said.
“There is an enormous amount of stigma and shame attached to gambling, at Gamblers Help, we have a group of people who’ve managed to kick the habit of gambling and they talk to community groups and things as lived experience speakers and some of those are said to me on occasions that they’d rather identify as being drug addicts or alcoholics than have a gambling problem,”
“There is so little tolerance in the community for people to recognise that gambling is equally as addictive as these other things, people feel they should just be able to control themselves and stop gambling but it is a true addiction like any other.
To get in touch with EACH’s Gamblers Help program, contact them at 1300 131 973 or GHEIntake@EACH.com.au or visit gamblershelp.com.au.
Minister for Casino, Gaming and Liquor Regulation Melissa Horne said providing people with a break in play is an important gambling harm prevention measure.
“It gives people a chance to step out of the zone and consider how much time and money they’re willing to lose,” she said.
“Victoria’s enforcement of gaming room closure times will protect those most vulnerable to gambling-related harm.”
During the debate of the legislation in October 2023, Eildon MP Cindy McLeish also contributed to the conversation according to the Parliament of Victoria website.
Ms McLeish said we have a huge incidence of domestic and family violence in this state, and gambling does have a little role in that.
“There is the hidden nature of gambling and domestic violence or intimate partner violence, and in situations when a partner has gambled, the stresses in those households are particularly high,” she said.
