The Victorian State Government has issued a new report in which it tried to empirically define the societal harm incurred because of the gambling industry in the current regulatory framework.
Victoria’s New Study Highlights Economic Costs of Gambling Harm
According to the study, which was funded by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) and involved research from Central Queensland University, the toll on society could be as high as AUD $14.1 billion.
According to the study, which saw a number of contributors, including Matthew Browne, Catherine Tulloch, Vijay Rawat, Georgia Dellosa, Alex M. T. Russell, Nerilee Hing, Matthew Rockloff, and Chris Doran, these costs reflect the harm that is being caused by gambling.
The study spoke about the knock-on effect of gambling-related harm that impacts not only people who are directly hit by gambling-related harm but also those who may be associated with them, at the workplace, at home, and so on.
The figure cited in the recent study is much higher than the number presented in a previous study, which pinpointed gambling-related harm and its impact on society at AUD $7 billion. Both numbers exclusively focus on the state of Victoria.
The study also tried to determine what the chief contributing factor to gambling-related harm in the state was. According to the research, 80% of all state-wide losses are generated by electronic gaming machines (EGMs) as well as sports betting offers.
There is nothing groundbreaking in this conclusion, however, as poker machines in general are the most accessible and easiest form of gambling that most people participate in. However, the study did highlight the fact that EGMs have a disproportionately high contribution to the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).
A Ban on EGMs Could Help Sort Many of the Problems
I.e. people who tend to gamble on EGMs are more likely to develop a more pathological problem with gambling, the study indicated. In other words, people who played EGMs tended to score higher on the PGSI. The study suggested that restricting EGMs can actually help strengthen consumer safety in Victoria and even floated the idea of a ban.
This study arrives at a time when doctors across Australia have called for better restrictions on social media adverts that continue to “glamorize” poker machine gambling, cautioning that these videos, spread without any disclaimers about the dangers of the hobby, remain rampant online.