19 October 2023

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A newly-formed national organisation to fight gambling harm has called for the name of Gambling Harm Awareness Week to be changed to Gambling Harm Action Week. 

 

Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE) say it’s past time that action is taken to prevent gambling harm from ruining lives. 

 

GHLEE Co-Chair Kate Seselja said the gambling industry would much prefer that the name of this week stayed the same, to maintain the status quo and the illusion of action. 

 

“Like with so much associated with gambling harm, language matters, and we want to see actual ACTION happening to really address this insidious issue,” Mrs Seselja said. 

 

“All of us involved in GHLEE have experienced or witnessed gambling harm first-hand. We’ve seen the lasting harm gambling does to people, to families, to communities. We are tired of the one week of the year that puts focus on gambling being focused on awareness, which reinforces the industry's personal responsibility narratives and does nothing to highlight the need for action. 

 

“Gambling harm is addiction by design and this public health crisis demands an appropriate response. We are the nation experiencing the highest level of gambling harm on the planet. It’s well past time for action and the only awareness I’m interested in is knowing why our government can know these facts and still prioritise the wellbeing of this predatory industry instead of the wellbeing of Australian communities.”

 

Mrs Seselja and many of the other members of GHLEE have been active advocates in the reform space for years. While they have achieved some success, they know they are stronger together so formed GHLEE to amplify their individual voices and deliver even more gambling harm reduction advocacy wins. 

 

“No one has more insight on any issue, than those who have the direct lived experience of it. This is especially true, when it comes to gambling harm,” Mrs Seselja said.

 

“Only someone who has been in the pits of despair that gambling harm brings can appreciate how important an issue this is to address. WE are the key stakeholders and we are appalled at the fact that the industry is invited to the table to discuss solutions to the problems they knowingly create. The industry is not a stakeholder, they are the perpetrators of harm. Just like how we don’t sit down with big tobacco and ask what materials they feel comfortable with during quit smoking week we should not include the gambling industry as a valid stakeholder in gambling harm awareness, let alone gambling reform.

 

“Those closest to the harm are closest to the solutions. All of us involved with GHLEE want to use our lived experience to ensure that we truly tackle one of the leading preventable causes of poverty in Australia. 

 

“The data reflects the harm. We’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis and gambling losses are increasing, not decreasing. Every single dollar of the $26 billion spent on gambling is a dollar that could be more effectively used in our communities.

 

“We know we are in a David vs Goliath battle here as a small group of individuals fighting a billion-dollar industry with all the power and influence that brings. But we remind ourselves every day that David won his battle, and we will too because we want to see people, families and communities thriving, whereas the gambling industry just wants to squeeze them for every last dollar they have.”