Activities

Autumn 2008

As we head into our fifth Responsible Gambling Awareness Week (RGAW) the committee is busy getting resources ready and assisting others with ideas for the week. This issue of Impact News brings you information about the upcoming launch seminar in Sydney and we hope you will spread the message far and wide so we get a good roll up on the day.

This year we have had some assistance from Responsible Gambling Fund to convert our awareness raising video, Less Than Even, into a DVD which we have enclosed in the information packs for the week. The DVD will also be available for sale.

We also thank the RGF for their sponsorship of the RGAW Seminar in Sydney on May 12th. Thanks also to all the volunteers who assist us to get the information packs out in preparation for the week and to those assisting with the seminar along with our guest speakers who give generously of their time.

RGAW is our major event for the year and requires considerable effort and coordination. We hope you find the enclosed information and resources useful for your own activities for the week and we look forward to hearing your feedback. We will be sending out an evaluation form in the next newsletter.

During RGAW many of the 60 problem gambling specific counselling services will be promoting their services and conducting events, public speaking and providing media interviews around the State. It’s a time to promote access to help services for those who need them but also information on how to keep gambling safe.

We hope you will do your bit to support these services and the GIS in their efforts to protect our communities from gambling harm.

Summer 2008

The GIS had some good news just prior to Xmas, that the RGF trustees have agreed to provide some limited financial support to our Responsible Gambling Awareness Week activities including some support for the May 12th RGAW seminar assistance to convert our video—Less than Even, into a DVD. This will be a great help.

Meanwhile we are planning a cross-stakeholder RGAW planning group to meet in Sydney over the coming months and hope this will be the beginning of a regular approach to the week. It will be good to work collaboratively with others in planning.

The GIS will also be holding its annual strategic planning meeting on February 7th in Nowra. Any members who would like to join with us in considering our focus for the year are welcome to come. We do this over a day and bring a shared lunch. So contact Kate Roberts if you would like to attend.

Please don’t forget to send us your news and any interesting stories from your localities, this is your newsletter and we encourage your participation in its development.

We do hope you all enjoyed the festive season and look forward to working with you in 2008.

Spring 2007

The Society has once again been busy responding to issues of advocacy and providing support to the community and counselling service on problem gambling. Two major review IPART registered Clubs and the Gaming machine Act reviews have involved considerable time in submission writing (these can be seen on their respective IPART & OLGR websites).

We have also submitted to the Minister and Office of Liquor and Gaming and Racing for funding to support our activities and enable us to employ a part time executive officer/health promotion worker. Other than memberships and small donations from the CDSE we receive no ongoing funds to support our work.

Thanks you to those organisations and clubs who sent letters of support to accompany this submission. Fingers crossed.

We are going meet with the Minister on Sept. 27th. To discuss this, plus trying to get the OLGR on board with Responsible Gambling Awareness Week (RGAW).

We are also planning our seminar for RGAW on Monday may 12, 2008, in Sydney so mark it in your diaries.

Our AGM will occur on Wed. 21st November. But even if you can’t get to Nowra for meetings we would value your input on committee by phone/email particularly those in regional areas. As a State organisation we are keen to hear your ideas and issues of concern so why not think about joining the management committee.

We aim to be the NSW peak body on problem gambling and for that we need your support.

Winter 2007

Exciting, rewarding and exhausting—that’s a summary of this quarter. Its been hectic with getting the RGAW packs out, organising the seminar in Sydney, workshop in Nowra and fielding contacts about all. Highlights just how much one can do as volunteers but also the limitations. Sincere thanks to all who assisted us including the Nowra Neighbourhood Centre, our guest speakers for the seminars and workshops and all those PG services who jumped into the week with enthusiasm and dedication. I know there were many activities going on around the State, and hope you will give us feedback in the evaluation form to let us know what you were able to achieve. We will endeavour to put a summary together. Responsible Gambling Awareness Week just gets bigger and better each year. But as they say “no rest for the wicked” as there are IPART submissions with the review of Clubs & the CDSE, the Gaming Machines Act review about to commence & a number if media activities in response to latest gambling issues along with a conference presentation in Melbourne. This edition is full of RGAW and latest developments— we hope you enjoy a good read.

Autumn 2007

This has been a busy quarter for the Society committee on several fronts but particularly engaging with other stakeholder s in advocating for the rights of clients to access community heath services for their gambling related problems. The proposed closure of the former Illawarra Community Health, Problem Gambling Service will have a significant impact on the communities of the Illawarra and Shoalhaven. We outline the main issues in this edition of Impact News in the hope that our readers will support community action to see this plan revoked.

Responsible Gambling Awareness Week is looming large and we have been active in organising the launch event, developing resources for the information packs and fielding enquiries from other agencies about how they can get involved.

The RGAW information pack enclosed with this newsletter will hopefully give you some resources to get started and we look forward to your support in creating better awareness about gambling risks and reducing harm in the community by providing displays, information and resources to your community.

The GIS is hosting two main events this year: one in Sydney and an additional forum for community workers in the Shoalhaven. This will be a day with Gabriela Byrne looking at the Third Place concept and its relevance to the Shoalhaven Living Futures program. This is in partnership with Shoalhaven City Council and will be advertised locally. Our main thrust this year is to high light the benefits of a public health approach to gambling and how this can be of advantage to all stakeholders.

So why not come along on May 7th to find out more about it and enjoy a day of partnership, exploration and vision planning. Hope to see you there and good luck with your own activities for the week.

Winter 2006

This has been a busy quarter organising Responsible Gambling Awareness Week at the local and State level. The GIS distributed over 500 information packs across the State sent to regional libraries, TAFE libraries all gambling counselling services and in the Illawarra all clubs, hotels and the majority of community welfare services. This is a mammoth task each year with minimum funds to assist us. So thank you to our members and volunteers who assisted with packing and distribution, & thanks for the membership fees which support this kind of information resources.

The State launch in Sydney was a small but interesting event with approximately 40 guests. Overall there was considerable interest this year with many gambling counselling service getting involved. Across the Nation events were held in South Australia, Queensland, Act and Tasmania with further events planned by Victoria, Northern Territory later in the year. They promise to get on board for May next year. Anyone interested in the overview of activities across the Nation can see the matrix of activities developed by the Australian Gambling Council on this website.

So overall the week is slowly becoming a recognized event and we hope to build on this for next year. Kate Roberts (NSW), Mark Bandick (SA) and Ben Ross (TAS) have been working together on a formal proposal to State and Commonwealth governments for support for next year. This has been presented to the Ministers Advisory Council on Community Services– so finger crossed.

It would be helpful if services could report back on their activities to give us an idea of the breadth of events across the State. This will lend support to the request for more resources and coordination for 2007.

So on behalf of the GIS we thank you for your support in raising community awareness during the week and providing a focused effort—from small acorns...!

Summer 2005

This past quarter has seen us continue to advocate on behalf of those affected by problem gambling with discussion about the lack of consumer representation on the current working party debate on the self-exclusion programs. We have raised concern though the NSW Council on PG but will be raising them directly with the Department of Gaming and Racing.

Plans continue for national Responsible Gambling Awareness Week for next year. We hope to do some awareness raising in both our own region and continue to support gambling services across the State with additional resources for use during the week if funds allow. GIS committee members will also be supporting the public launch on May 8th in Sydney 6.00—9.00 pm.

The new committee of management has welcomed two new members and we are pleased to announce we have our first administrative Volunteer working with us through the Nowra Neighborhood Centre. This has greatly assisted us with the distribution of our community education resources such as the video—responding to orders in a timely fashion and generally following up on administrative matters. As this is only one day per fortnight it is still limited, but we really appreciate the extra assistance. We hope our forays into finding some stable funding for the organisation will bear fruit in the coming year. In the meantime we encourage you to support us through membership. As the article below high lights, we are the only state wide organisation now actively representing issues of problem gambling from the perspective of those who have suffered the impact of problem gambling. Our membership is our base from which we draw strength and support please make sure you inform of us your concerns as you continue to make your contribution to harm minimisation in the field of problem gambling. We value your thoughts and ideas, we are always looking for articles of interest to our readers and information about activities you would like others to know about or just an update from your service or client group.

On behalf of the management committee of the GIS we with you good tidings for Xmas & the coming New Year.

Spring 2005

This past quarter has seen us in consultation with NW Greens Party with regards the latest gambling legislative changes in response to the IPART inquiry. Along with joining forces with the NSW Council on Problem Gambling and the ASH smoking lobby group to consider the impact of designated smoking areas in in clubs and hotels (see media release this newsletter).

We were thankful of those who gave us feedback on their activities for 2005 Responsible Gambling Awareness Week this will help inform us for 2006. We continue to work in conjunction with the NSW Council on PG to coordinate and encourage this as a State and National Week. Currently there are representatives working on this in most States with whom we are in consultation.

We would also like to thank the St. George’s Basin Country Club for their 2005 CDSE finding support of $2,000 to assist us with the newsletter.

It is Area Assistance Funding time in the Illawarra and we have made an application for a Health Education Officer to assist our work in this region in developing an early intervention program. The application is to develop an awareness raising training program for non–gambling specific community and welfare services, workplaces and high schools students.

It is now five years since we first commenced operations and in that time we have had some major outcomes particularly in the development of educational resources. But as a small team of volunteers and workers from community/welfare agencies, it is time the GIS gained its own staff. We have therefore approached the CCBF for funds to appoint a Health Promotion Officer to work with us to further develop our services and develop our programs in early interventions, community education and advocacy for and on behalf of people affected by problem gambling. We hope to engage in some further consultation with the department on this matter.

So as usual it has been a busy quarter with new opportunities to explore and plans to make. Wishing you well as we enter the Spring season ...Keep in Touch.

Winter 2005

It has been a busy 3 months for GIS with organizing another successful Responsible Gambling Awareness Week, and then moving along towards a better one still set for next year.

We continue to raise awareness within the community, encouraging others to get involved in this plight, keeping problem gambling as an important subject growing within the political arena. This requires: vigilantly identifying important risks that gamblers take when innocently engaging themselves within the social gambling circle that is so widely provided by the community, identifying what causes shame/guilt issues with those who gamble problematically and how to approach that dilemma with better results; formulating certain strategies towards mostly affected groups, such as the youth, who are going to be affected more and more as they embark on the social scene when they turn of age; & making more information, such as brochures, videos, books, internet links (that provide helpful information) etc., more readily available at strategic places, like libraries, schools, TAFE colleges, service providers and community welfare providers.

This is such an important issue in the community and it’s becoming more and more obvious that it is something to work on and keep working on for a better future. Planning with a vision that is years ahead, as it is of great importance that the communities embrace this as a problem that needs attention NOW, to create a safer environment for generations to come, with greater awareness of potential dangers of gambling that IS out there.

Knowledge of potential dangers makes for better choices and hopefully, with Governments being put under pressure from as many voices as possible, such as Gambling Awareness Weeks like this one, numbers of people who gamble problematically may start to fall in the future. So keep up the good work.

Autumn 2005

The video “Less Than Even” which gives a rare insight into the impact of gambling in NSW through the eyes of gamblers, their partners and those who provide support services, and the CD “Against the Odds”, which has been developed with a focus upon young people aged between 16-24 and gambling is now available for sale.

There has been sufficient interest to pursue a National Gambling Awareness Week for the year 2006, both at the NAGS conference and at the NSW Problem Gambling Council, which is encouraging and gives us a platform to start looking into it further. This year’s Awareness Week for NSW is held between 19th and 26th of May, where we hope to attract enough attention to make it even more bigger and better next year—hopefully nationally. Kate’s report on this event is on page 3.

Following the article about Senator Patterson’s move to work with NSW Government on Youth and Gambling, contact has been made to hopefully establish a meeting with her “so that areas of mutual interest could be explored ... to enable us to take advantage of any initiative that may be available”.

Other point of interest, are the discussions we are currently having around ATM machines and their placement/withdrawal limit, in clubs/pubs and what action could be taken to make it tougher for gamblers to withdraw maximum daily limit, which to this day stands at $1000. Ideas and opinions on this point would be welcome.

Summer 2005

This last quarter of the year is seeing us finalising the Youth CD, which is currently in production. The final draft has been listened to at the GIS November meeting and requests to some minor adjustments have been made. The final product is not all that far away. The video “Less Than Even” will be available for sale this month for the price of $25 each (plus $5.00 post & packaging). Anyone wishing to buy a copy of the video can contact GIS on: 02 4421 5077 after December 1st.

I have also undertaken to help out with editing the newsletter, so Kate can take a little breather between her already busy schedule. My name is John Sabados and I have been a member of GIS for over a year. I don’t have much experience in this, so I hope that you will be patient with me while I learn the basics of the computer program that I need to use to get this done. I would love to hear from anyone that has any suggestions, articles, stories, comments etc., to continue making this newsletter a valuable contribution in getting the voice of gambling awareness out to the public. Please feel free to send any of the above to freelance96@hotmail.com and I will gladly look at any material for future issues.

The GIS monthly meetings starting in January 2005 will be held every 3rd Wednesday instead of every 1st Wednesday as it has been up until now. This means that the first meeting in 2005 will be held on 19th of January between 12.30pm and 2.30 pm at Nowra Neighbourhood Centre, 134 Kinghorne St. Nowra. Contact: Kate Roberts on 02 4421 5077.

Spring/Summer 2004

This quarter has seen us working to finalise the multi-media project and go through the final approval process with CCBF for the video and website materials. So on that note we are pleased to commence distribution of the video for those who have requested a copy. We also hope to get it out to various other community centres, libraries and other services across the State.

The Youth CD Rom ran into a few technical hitches but that too is being finalised and should be out within the next month or so.

Our web guru—Alan Robinson has been developing the post-production work from the video for our website and this will mean that the extended interviews with the video participants will be included as “talking heads” on the website in the near future. This is about 5 hours of video clips which will be integrated into the site. Including interviews with counsellors, lawyers, financial counsellors and those affected by problem gambling. Available in the comfort of your own home anywhere Australia (& the globe). We are quite excited at this prospect and believe it will be an asset for those who may not have a gambling service nearby or who want to find discreet confidential information in a hurry. Which may be very relevant for our rural friends. So keep an eye on the website www.gisnsw.org.au for this new development.

July saw us hold a strategic planning day to help us consolidate plans for the next 12 months and visions for the next five years. This year we would like to develop our membership further but also look at ways we can work more closely with our regional members across the State. We welcome your ideas & also hope to develop this as a student placement project.

Autumn 2004

This quarter has been hectic with preparations for Responsible Gambling Awareness Week and the various events held during the week. Getting the video completed and thought the various bureaucratic hoops to allow it to be shown was challenging but we were very pleased to have achieved it and look forward to being able to make it available for distribution from next month.

The Youth & Gambling CD Rom is still in production and Alan Robinson has been working tirelessly in taking “talking heads” from the video to include in the website. All great opportunities for new learning mediums and Australian ones to boot!

After conducting a ballot with our members we formally incorporated on March 11th. We have set the date for our first AGM as Wednesday September 1st, 2004 and welcome your attendance here at the Nowra Neighbourhood Centre 1-2pm.

Incorporation takes us into a new era of ability to apply for funds without an auspice body. We would like to thank Shoalhaven Neighbourhood Centre Inc. for their great support to this point.

We hope to consolidate some of our work this coming year and intend to hold a planning day in July to develop a strategic plan to expand activities and pursue funds to develop a small permanent staff to assist us in our work. Having a project officer for 12-months clearly indicated just what we can do with additional non–voluntary resources and we believe there is much to be done. We therefore ask for your continued support through membership fees and hope you will complete the enclosed membership form and return to us here in Nowra.

Summer 2004

This quarter sees us sadly prepare to say goodbye to Karen Richardson who leaves us in April having spent 12 months as our project officer. We hope we may be able to entice her back if we are successful with our latest CCBF round in our area—fingers crossed!

Karen has spent many months visiting clubs, hotels and community groups raising local awareness about women & gambling issues as well as running the more to life group program. We will miss her energy and smiling face but know we will continue work together in other ways. On that note we have all been very busy working on the responsible gambling awareness week projects including the video, radio program and planning our own public seminar here in Nowra on May 13th. As you can imagine it can get a bit hectic but we believe that this is the start of what we hope will become a regular annual event.

We have yet to follow up with Shoalhaven City Council on our workplace training outcomes but were pleased to have trained 25 of their frontline and supervisory staff just before Xmas. Interestingly at least 25% of the participants had had some direct contact with someone who had a gambling problem either at work or in family life. So this initial awareness raising program was well received and the feedback very positive. It was a good start to the education program which will compliment the new workplace addiction policy and hopefully support managers, staff and the HR department on implementing appropriate strategies for dealing with gambling in the workplace in a constructive manner.

Spring/Summer 2003

This quarter has seen us busily moving on our funded projects with Karen getting the message out about women's experiences of gambling and the completion of our first More to Life Program—small in numbers but strong on change. Well done Karen!

We have been addressing a range of women’s community groups including View clubs, and the Lionesses who have all been very surprised but pleased to learn about the issues of problem gambling.

We have had good news about our CDSE funding and would like to thank, Bomaderry Bowling Club, and Shoalhaven Ex-Servicemen's Club for their ongoing support and acknowledge our newest supporter - Mollymook Golf club. Your donations are much appreciated and will be put to very good use.

Our Youth Project is in development with plans for a youth and gambling radio program developed by and for young people . This is a partnership project with Sanctuary Point Youth and Community Resource Centre.

Last month we were joined by visitors from the Escape from Gambling program a community self-help website open to those affected by problem gambling . We welcome their input.

The workplace project is coming along nicely and we commence training Shoalhaven City Council HR team this month. So all in all we're pretty busy, consequently this Spring issue is rapidly sliding into Summer—apologies from the editor but an opportunity to wish you all A MERRY XMAS.

Winter 2003

This quarter has seen the More to Life Program—Women & Gambling Project commence its first group program here in Nowra, facilitated by Karen Richardson & Kate Roberts who are now into week three of this 8- week program. Karen has been busily promoting the program around the locality as well as developing information packs for community services and gambling venues.

Plans are getting under way for the multi-media/video project with a plan to launch the video in March 2004 at our proposed Problem Gambling Awareness Week. Meanwhile we continue to lobby for a NSW Gambling Summit and have been meeting with local MPs and Councilors in this pursuit as well as corresponding with relevant Ministers, the NSW Premier etc. We welcome your ideas on this suggestion and any support you may be able to give us in encouraging such an event to occur sooner rather than later.

We are particularly pleased with the constructive offers form Shoalhaven City Council following our recent discussions, to develop some policy and procedures around problem gambling in the workplace (see article this issue). A good example of our community and employers working together on this important issue.

Autumn 2003

This quarter has had some good news from the CCBF to advise us that we have been successful in our application for a twelve month multi-media/video project. We will be receiving $52,000 to assist us with this project which will include developing a video about problem gambling with a particular emphasis upon issues for family and friends.

Other news has been the launch of our website and the recruitment of our Women & Gambling Project Officer—Karen Richardson. We are very excited to see some of our plans coming to fruition .

We continue to research workplace gambling policies and our Chairperson, Kate Roberts, recently presented a case study at a workshop at the Women & Gambling Conference in Wollongong. The case study is now being sent to relevant organisations to gather feedback on this issue. After some concerted lobbying, we have been invited to assist Shoalhaven City Council to develop a Workplace Gambling Policy and look forward to working with others on this important area. Over the coming months our aim is to lobby for a NSW Gambling Summit and we welcome your thoughts on this (see front page this issue).

Meanwhile we encourage you to access our website, tell your clients/customers about it and generally keep in touch with your ideas and feedback.

Spring/Summer 2002-3

The Society has been busily working on a number of issues and is pleased to announce the success of a recent application to the Department of Women. We will be receiving just under $75,000 early in the new year to establish a Women & Gambling Project in the Shoalhaven (see details this issue). We are most grateful for the opportunity to bring this excellent program into the region and thank the Department of Women for their considerable support. Thanks must also go to Bomaderry Bowling Club and Shoalhaven Ex-servicemen’s Club for their respective donations of $2,000 each to support our activities through the CDSE scheme. These funds have enabled us to commission a consultant to set up the new website in early 2003. We look forward to bringing you more news on this venture.

We are currently also negotiating to develop a gambling policy with a major community employer following concerns raised by a member with regards policies and procedures regarding a workplace gambling issue. Interestingly it has thrown light ion the need for workplaces to consider strategies for dealing with gambling problems in the workplace. The GIS(NSW) Inc. is engaging in discussion with various unions to develop some precedents in this area.– to protect both employees and employers and develop some models for the future. We would be interested in hearing from anyone else who has worked on this issue or has precedents in their workplace or aware of other workplace gambling policies. Please let us know.

Message From the Editor: As this past year seems to have run away with me I am making this a bumper issue to catch up on the spring/summer editions. Apologies, for those who were hanging out for the spring issue. Hope to get back on track for the remainder of the year.

Winter 2002

The Society was interested recently to see the Illawarra Mercury (June 29) running a story on the Wollongong WEA offering a course on gambling with a particular focus on horse racing. In the current climate of responsible gaming, the Society has written asking for more details about the program and provided the organisation with information on the issues of problem gambling, and a list services for those who may be experiencing difficulties with gambling in the hope that they may distribute a balanced approach to gambling in their program. The Society is currently applying for CDSE funds to further the development of the website, develop a series of information packs for those affected by problem gambling and the general community and ongoing support for the newsletter. We keep our fingers crossed. We are pleased to see that our local and State gambling treatment Services have all been refunded for at least another year and we are readying ourselves for the community consultation process. We hope that this process will include a commitment to an integrated approach to the delivery of services across the State. In the Illawarra & Shoalhaven we are actively working to encourage participation by all stakeholders. We have also been contacted by parties in the Eurobodalla region who are interested in getting services up and running the region. We will be supporting them in their efforts and anticipate contributing to a forthcoming forum in November. We are still dependent on memberships to assist us in our work SO.... if you haven’t officially joined yet but have enjoyed reading Impact News we encourage you to demonstrate your support by filling in the back page of this issue.

Autumn 2002

The Society has continued its work by representing the issues of gamblers in a number of forums including Ulladulla and Shoalhaven Inter-agencies, interviews with local member Wayne Smith and the Illawarra Health Consumers Forum. Much activity has been contributed to the debate about the future of the Shoalhaven Gambling Recovery Program as there has been some doubt about Illawarra Health Department commitment to ongoing support for this program. However, the Society is hopeful of a positive result form it lobbying activities. Particularly as the Society receives considerable support from the project’s worker. Additional activities have been contributing ideas for the development of our website and thanks must go to Alan Robinson for his voluntary assistance as our computer whiz for this project. Kate and Karen will be allocating time to information input under Alan’s support and direction. The website will be able to provide accessible community educational material, help sheets and information on a range of gambling related topics

Membership continues to grow and we are pleased to welcome a number of gaming facilities into our membership, along with gambling services and individuals. Its that time of year again to update your membership –due by June 30th. SO.... if you haven’t officially joined yet but have enjoyed reading Impact News we encourage you to demonstrate your support for our efforts . We encourage you to also let others know about the newsletter and our services so that those struggling with the impact of gambling are aware of our existence.

We welcome contributions from anyone involved in gambling issues and through this newsletter hope to bring you helpful and up to date information about problem gambling and related topics. We welcome any ideas you may have for future topics or contributions you may like to make—this is your newsletter too!

We encourage our readers to ensure their membership is up to date as we rely on your subscriptions to enable us to continue our activities. Deadline for next issue is 31st March. Copy preferably in Word e-mailed to the editor ( see address back page). However, snail mailed copy is also welcomed.

Summer 2002

The Society has enjoyed a break over the Xmas holidays and is gearing up for new activities this year.

We would like to thank the Bomaderry Bowling Club for their generous donation of $2,000 to our activities. As a self-funded organization this is a welcome additional source of funding which will enable us to move forward with our plans for 2002.

Over the coming months we will be developing a website, establishing a network of self-help groups and developing a number of first contact information packs including a brochure about the organization which we hope gambling services and other community services will be able to distribute to their clients.

We encourage gambling services to let clients know about our existence and ensure that those affected by problem gambling have an avenue for self-help and community action if they care to get involved.

We welcome contributions from anyone involved in gambling issues and through this newsletter hope to bring you helpful and up to date information about problem gambling and related topics. We welcome any ideas you may have for future topics or contributions you may like to make — this is your newsletter too!

We encourage our readers to ensure their membership is up to date as we rely on your subscriptions to enable us to continue our activities. Deadline for next issue is 31st March. Copy preferably in Word e-mailed to the editor. However, snail mailed copy is also welcomed.

Spring 2001

The Society has continued its lobbying activities on behalf of gamblers and their families. It has been a busy period of letter writing in response to both the policy framework document and the latest gambling reforms. Our thanks go to our secretary Dorothy who is forever “pen ready” and certainly a wordsmith at heart.

We were exceedingly disappointed to hear that not one of our three applications f or funding was successful with the last round of CCBF monies. Our applications were to establish a program of education in High Schools, support for our community library and funds to support this newsletter and the development of a first contact pack for those seeking information about gambling.

Feedback suggested following up with the Department of Education, seeking resources from other agencies and our application being “outside the criteria” (a seemingly catch-all phrase). Some of our activities have been developed specifically because the “other resources/agencies” don’t exist in our community.

So how did others fare? Lets hope some funds got out there into early intervention work. It is saddening to find a lack of financial support forthcoming to self-help initiatives such as the GIS(NSW) Inc.. Lets hope community partnership gets better recognition in the next round! Our eyes are now on the local CDSE round.

So we continue with our self-funded activities and thank all those who renewed their membership with us - without your support things would certainly be less possible.

We continue to encourage you to share information about your activities and welcome articles of interest. Deadline for next issue if 31st December. Copy preferably in Word e-mailed to the editor. However, snail mailed copy is also welcomed.

Autumn/Winter 2001

The Society has spent this last quarter continuing to attends public forums pertaining to gambling and making representation to various government bodies., MP’s etc with regards issues of relevance to gamblers and their families. Like many others we await news on our funding submissions and are readying for the next round of submissions to the local clubs community funding scheme.

Following up on our meeting with Senior Policy Officer Deborah Hadzi—author of the Problem Gambling Treatment Services Discussion Document. We are hopeful of hearing soon about the next stage in the process of consultation and moves toward seeing some policy development in this area.

The Society has also had consultations with Donna Moore from Clubs NSW—Clubsafe Program with a view to supporting their plan to pilot a community liaison network .

Membership is growing and we actively encourage our readers to renew their membership this month to enable us to continue our activities in raising community awareness on gambling issues and provide a holistic medium for discussion and information through the provision of this newsletter.

Summer 2001

The Society has spent this last quarter working on a number of issues including the development of a submission for funding through the Illawarra Area Assistance Program to pilot an early intervention program with high school students. Should the application be successful the project will implement a program of community education amongst years 10,11,12 through out the Shoalhaven and develop a resource for other areas in the State.

Other activities have included meeting with Senior Policy Officer Deborah Hadzi- author of the Problem Gambling Treatment Services Discussion Document (more on this later), responding to concerns about intake procedures with some gambling services and working on the next newsletter of course.

The Society continues to increase its membership and we are very pleased to have gained some significant responses from our first edition of this newsletter. However, we continue to develop slowly and welcome your input and of course hope to increase our subscription.

We are a totally voluntary organization, under the auspice of the Nowra Neighbourhood Centre, we receive no government funding (although we hope to submit for some in the future) and so rely on donations and subscriptions. If you have found our efforts worthwhile we encourage you to join us to demonstrate your support and help us spread more community information about the impacts of problem gambling, where to get education and help.

Disclaimer - The opinions expressed in this website are not necessarily those held by the Gambling Impact Society (NSW) Inc. No responsibility will be accepted for anything that may occur as a result of anyone relying on the information and opinions contained in the website.