Gambling Harm Awareness Week runs from Monday 16 to Sunday 22 October. The ACT Government will launch a 12-month campaign to educate the public about gambling products, the signs of gambling harm, and the range of free supports available.

“Gambling is a big business,” Shane Rattenbury, ACT Minister for Gaming, said. “Gambling products are increasingly promoted in our everyday lives, and often the products are designed to keep people spending. They can also cause significant harms. 

“Gambling harm is about more than just losing money. It can also impact relationships, employment, or study. Harm can be experienced not just by the person gambling, but also by those around them.”

According to the last ACT survey (2019), 17,000 adults in the ACT reported experiencing harm from either their own or someone else’s gambling.

“These impacts include health and wellbeing, relationships, friendships, work and study – not just financial losses,” Yu-Lan Chan, CEO of the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission, said.

A stakeholder forum will explore how stakeholders can prevent harm and empower people experiencing harm to reach out and seek support.

“It is important to remember that there are far more important things to life than gambling, including friendships, family, special interests and hobbies, like sport,” Mr Rattenbury said.

To find out more about different gambling products and how they work and the supports available for anyone impacted by gambling, visit the Gambling and Racing Commission’s website www.everystorymatters.act.gov.au.

If you or someone you know is impacted by gambling, help is at hand. To find support that suits you, the ACT Gambling Support Service provides a 24-hour confidential, free service. You can speak to a support person on1800 858 858; or for online support, go to www.gamblinghelponline.org.au.

To prevent and reduce harm from gambling, the ACT Government and the Gambling and Racing Commission are:

• implementing the National Consumer Protection Framework for online wagering, including introducing a national self-exclusion scheme known as BetStop in August this year. BetStop allows anyone to exclude themselves from all online gambling providers licensed in Australia.
• working with community clubs to reduce the number of gaming machines authorisations in the ACT to 3,500 by 1 July 2025; and
• building and maintaining constructive relationships among government, industry, help services, and community sector stakeholders.

“The Gambling and Racing Commission recognises that gambling products can be harmful,” its chair, Paul Baxter, said. “It is critical that we stop talking about ‘responsible gambling’ and instead talk about the responsibility we all share to prevent gambling harms.

“This Gambling Harm Awareness Week, the Commission is focusing on the role gambling might play in our lives and highlighting the potential risks of harm posed by various gambling products. We hope through this awareness raising that our community is empowered to seek support if they are experiencing gambling harm.”