Submission to third social and economic impact study of gambling in Tasmania

To assist us with this submission, Anglicare spoke to 17 people in April 2014 who regularly attend support groups to help them with their problems with gambling. Research participants describe how they thought their early gambling was helping them relieve their problems, but that they came to realise gambling had created a new problem for them when they felt unable to control the time and money spent gambling. Due to the high intensity play that is currently permitted on poker machines and the state-wide access provided by their up to 20-hour a day accessibility in local hotels and clubs, Anglicare recommends that poker machines be phased out of hotels and clubs on the expiration of the Deed between Federal Hotels and the State of Tasmania, in June 2018. In relation to the specific harm minimisation measures being investigated by the SEIS, Anglicare further recommends certain measures.