This research reports was released by Gambling Research Australia on 19 November 2007
The Ministerial Council on Gambling has nominated six national research priorities for gambling research. Gambling Research Australia oversees the research agenda. The report has been prepared in response to the third of six national research priorities for gambling research. This priority involves conducting research into: Best approaches to early intervention and prevention.
GRA commissioned the University of Adeleaide in South Australia to undertake the research into Identifying Problem Gambling in Gambling Venues. The purpose of the study was to
summarise and review existing published materials relating to problem gamblers within venues; and
conduct empirical research into the nature of visible indicators of problem gamblers within venues. The report was prepared by Dr Paul Delfabbro and Dr Alexandra Osborn (University of Adelaide), Dr Maurice Nevile and Dr Louise Skelt (University of Canberra, and Professor Jan McMillen.
The literature review examined the link between identifying problem gamblers at venues and current provisions of responsibility in Australia and found that a public health approach was adopted by all states towards minimising harm associated with gambling.
The empirical research carried out in Australia had three components for:
(a) Surveys and consultation with industry staff and problem gambling counsellors;
(b) A detailed survey study of regular gamblers and
(c) Observational work at venues
Over 120 venue/industry staff and 20 counsellors were surveyed for the first component; 700 regular gamblers surveyed for the second component and two observational studies conducted in ACT and South Australia for the third component with over 149 hours of observation conducted on hundreds of gamblers. The observational study examined the extent of behaviour visible in the venues, frequency of occurrence, sequencing and how they appeared in reality.
Amendment to the report
An amendment has been made to the report which corrects information on page 49 (of the complete report) and on Page 48 (of Chapter 2).
The amendmenr reads as:
"Similarly, Betsafe, launched in 1998, was developed by the Paul Symond consultancy, a private organisation that provides counselling, training, and evaluation services."
The report may be downloaded in its entirety or by chapter using the following links. The report consists of 327 Pages.
Cover 213kb
Index 63kb
Executive Summary 48kb
Chapter 1: Introduction 44kb
Chapter 2: Gambler Identification 163kb
Chapter 3: Visible Indicators 110kb
Chapter 4: Survey Industry 147kb
Chapter 5: Survey Gamblers 205kb
Chapter 6: Venue Observation 209kb
Chapter 7: Summary/Conclusion 79kb
References/Appendices 121kb
Complete Report 893kb
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