Prevalence of Gambling and Problem Gambling In NSW 2006 : A Community Survey

The first prevalence study of gambling and problem gambling in NSW conducted by AC Neilsen on behalf of OLGR was released recently. Kate Roberts (chairperson, GIS (NSW) has summarised some of the key findings below. The full report is available at: http://www.olgr.nsw.gov.au/pdfs/rrprevalencegambling.pdf

The report indicates 5% of all those surveyed evidenced some level of gambling risk in a total sample of 5,029 NSW adults who were of gambling age (over 18).

This sample of 5,029 includes 31% who had not gambled in the past 12 - months (screeners) some of the findings reported include this group, which subsequently waters down percentages of those who are actually gambling.

For example - If you include those who didn’t gamble in the past 12 months (31%) in the findings, problem gamblers represent 0.8% of the total sample.

However, only 2,010 went on to answer the full interview .Of this sample of actual gamblers 111 were identified as ‘problem gamblers”. This represents (5.5%) of those who had gambled in the past 12 months.

Poker machines were identified as the highest level of risk with (95%) of problem gamblers and (87% ) of the moderate risk group indicating this as their preferred form of gambling.

The difficulty of asking only about past 12 months gambling behaviour is that it fails to pick up “binge” problem gamblers or those who may have had problems previously. The study attempted to capture these by asking if they “had ever experienced a serious gambling problem” - 5% of the total sample said yes. The main type being poker machines or horse/dog racing.

The majority of those identified as problem gamblers were young men aged 18 – 24 (34.3%).

The intrinsic difficulties of self-perception in problem gambling and the limitations of self-assessment studies is demonstrated by the 53% of those who had previously stated in the interview they had suffered adverse consequences from their gambling but later indicated they “did not have a problem”.

Only 16% of “At risk” gamblers had actually sought help. The most common source of help was G-line or family or friends.

30% of those with problems felt they could manage alone.

32% said they had been exposed to someone else’s gambling through an interpersonal relationship. The main form of gambling involved was poker machines (66%).

The most sacrificed item for gambling was money for groceries (19%) with one in ten gamblers across groups not spending money on groceries so they could gamble. Women were most likely to be sacrificing this form of expenditure.

53 % of problem gamblers had felt seriously depressed and three in ten (29%) had been under the care of a doctor or other professional because of physical or emotional problems brought on by stress.

The report claims (p81) that problem gamblers are more likely to be gambling at pubs or hotels with 43% indicating this as a preference. However when considering those “at risk” (moderate and serious problems) 65% are using clubs and 34% using hotels/pubs (see fig. 23, p.82).

Problem gamblers are eight times more likely to insert $50 notes into gaming machines than those gambling on poker machines overall (41% versus 5%).

Problem gamblers are nine times more likely to use ATMs for gambling compared with poker machine gamblers overall (62% versus 7%).

34% of “At risk” gamblers (moderate problem) and 61%of problem gamblers were most likely to take self -exclusion action.

Nearly half (45%) of problem gamblers admitted gambling makes their life a lot less enjoyable.

Please let us know whether the information on this page was useful.

 Not Helpful  1   2   3   4   5  Very Helpful

Comments:

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.