Media Release

13 October 2006

Reducing Gambling Harm Key Concern

Two years after taking responsibility for problem gambling, the Ministry of Health says reports of problem gamblers so desperate they are prepared to consider suicide remains a key driver behind its nationwide problem gambling treatment network.

Deputy Director-General of Mental Health Dr Janice Wilson says there has been considerable progress in that time, but she says there remain considerable challenges, many related to the invisibility of problem gambling.

Dr Wilson says it is possible that the stigma linked to problem gambling, like that linked to mental illness, may be one of the barriers preventing people from accessing services.

"We have made considerable progress in ensuring we have nationwide coverage so that people will have reasonable, local access to problem gambling treatment services, but in the past year we have not seen the uptake of those services that we would expect.

"In some areas we know of local services that have received only eight to ten visits in the past year. That would normally be cause for celebration - if we thought it genuinely meant that we had identified and treated all those in the area with a gambling problem. Unfortunately we believe it is an indication of the difficulty in getting problem gamblers into treatment and that's something we're looking carefully at.

"Given the constraints on public funds available for gambling help, we need to ensure that our approach of having nationwide services available, and services available for those groups most likely to need them, is appropriate."

Dr Wilson says we have seen a significant fall in the number of people seeking help for gambling in the past year and that has coincided with the setting up of a number of new providers. "It makes it very tricky for us to separate out a possible mismatch between those needing services and treatment services available from possible barriers preventing problem gamblers seeking help."

As our treatment services become better established they are looking at ways of early identification of problem gamblers and we are actively researching ways to encourage more people to seek help for problem gambling.

Of the 2,800 new client callers to the Gambling Helpline in 2005, 32 reported having planned to commit suicide, and of even greater concern 20 reported having attempted suicide in the last year.

"We estimate that only one in every ten problem gamblers actually asks for help and given the serious consequences of problem gambling for many individuals and their families it is critical we find ways to encourage more people who need treatment to seek help.

"We're currently analysing research data on problem gambling which may give us important insights into why people put off seeking help."

Last year was the first time since we started collecting information in 1997 that we've seen a decrease in gambling expenditure and use of gambling treatment services.
"We're in the process of reviewing services and looking at reconfiguring them to try and maintain a balance between locally available services and a better match between demand and treatment services.

'That process will be informed by the results of our public consultation over our plans for the next three years which we recently completed', Dr Wilson said.

Background
To assist with early identification of problem gamblers the Ministry of Health has two screening projects already under development. One is to train GPs, and another is to train social service workers to identify people who may have a gambling-related problem or who may be at risk.

A new service category is being developed around early interventions. Those accessing problem gambling intervention services are normally at or very near to crisis point, and a lot of harm has already been done. Making services more accessible by moving practitioners into community settings is a new and promising area being looked at.
A social marketing campaign focussing on preventing and minimising gambling harm will be rolled out next year. This will increase awareness of gambling issues within communities and is likely to increase demand for intervention services.

For further information contact:
Peter Abernethy
Communications Manager
(04) 496 2008