Problem Gambling Strategy Released
The Strategic Plan for Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm aims to reduce the harmful effects of gambling on individuals, families and communities. The strategy addresses gambling harm through a range of measures, including health promotion to raise public awareness of gambling risks, and providing information to communities to encourage informed choices about gambling. The Ministry of Health is spending a total of $54.5 million over the next three years managing and delivering the strategy.
The strategic plan outlines the way in which the Ministry of Health plans to address the problems caused by gambling. It includes primary prevention and population approaches, through to more specific services for individuals and their families and significant others.
The strategy has seven identified objectives:
- promoting public health policies in relation to gambling harm;
- encouraging supportive environments to minimise gambling harm;
- enhancing the capacity of communities to define and address gambling harm;
- maintaining and developing accessible, responsive and effective interventions;
- assisting the development of people's life skills and resilience;
- enhancing workforce capacity; and
- developing a programme of research and evaluation.
Background: Gambling in NZ
The gambling environment has evolved rapidly around the world. In particular, there has been big growth in electronically delivered forms of gambling, including video gaming machines ("pokies") and Internet gambling. NZ has not been immune to these global developments, and the last decade has seen a growth in gambling opportunities and player spending. Player losses (or profits) on non-casino gaming machines rose from an estimated $597 million in the 2000/01 fiscal year to around $941 million in 2002/03, before rising to about $1,035 million in 2003/04. In 2003/04 NZers lost more than $2 billion on all gambling activity.
Each year, the total pool of people seeking help from problem gambling services has increased. Over 78 percent of those who first received personal counselling help in 2003/04 sought help as a consequence of their gambling on gaming machines in pubs and clubs. This has been an increasing trend over the past six years and corresponds with a steady increase of non-casino gaming machines in NZ.
The number of female gamblers accessing problem-gambling services had more than quadrupled since 1997. By 2003/04 females accounted for 47.4 percent of new clients (up from 29.9 percent in 2002/03).
The Strategic Plan for Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm 2004-2010 and the Three-Year Funding Plan are available from the Ministry's problem gambling webpage at www.moh.govt.nz/problemgambling |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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