Health experts call for problem gambling reforms

Problem gambling is one of the most serious health issues affecting our nation, according to a group of 40 high-profile experts.

The group - including the head of the Public Health Association of Australia, Helen Keleher, and former Australian of the Year, Fiona Stanley - have written to politicians to express their support for low-impact poker machines and a mandatory pre-commitment scheme that would enable pokie users to select an amount they are willing to lose before they start gambling.

"An effective response to the harms of problem gambling is required urgently. As we have learnt from other successful public health responses, social marketing and education campaigns alone will not work," they wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

"For every person with a gambling problem, between five and 10 others are affected: children, husbands, wives, partners, employers, neighbours, family and friends," they added.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the letter said a mandatory pre-commitment scheme for gamblers would further establish Australia as a world leader in public health.

"As was the case with tobacco, gun controls and seatbelts, when there is compelling evidence of serious and immediate threats to public health we are compelled to take action to minimise harm.

"Each year that we delay the introduction of effective measures to address harms derived from gambling on poker machines, hundreds of thousands of people will experience gambling problems."

You can read more at the SMH or ABC Online.

According to the Productivity Commission Inquiry Report released in 2010, there are between 80 000 and 160,000 Australian adults suffering severe problems from their gambling. The costs to problem gamblers in 2008-09 ranged between $4.7 and $8.4 billion.

In March, Mission Australia threw its support behind a campaign, jointly launched by Independent Tasmanian MP, Andrew Wilkie and advocacy group, GetUp, to combat attempts to undermine the Federal Government’s planned poker machine reforms.

Tonight Four Corners examines this campaign tonight at 8.30pm on ABC1.

Further information:

• 'One-stop-shop' to tackle problem gambling
• Craigie passes on smart gambling message
• If you or someone you know needs support to overcome a gambling addiction visit www.triplerservices.com.au

Four Corners' Last Chance Motel - A timely reminder of the reality of Homelessness

Mission Australia welcomed Sarah Ferguson's report on Monday night - 'Last Chance Motel - which aimed to present the reality of homelessness for families stuck in a cycle of temporary housing.

As expected, the families featured all have their own stories to tell - when it comes to homelessness there is no stereotype: it is a situation arising from system failure rather than human failure.

As one father mentioned: "I've always had this picture in my head of a homeless person... they've got torn dirty clothes, they're not shaven, they're sort of sitting out on the corner looking for a handout… I'm not in that category but I don't have a home for my family and it's really embarrassing."

Homelessness is a symptom that arises from the combination of a low-income, a tight rental market favouring prejudice and a public housing system that has been systematically scaled back over the past decade.

As one mother mentioned in the program, how is she supposed to perform her role as mother while they have their family packed into a single hotel room and living out of boxes? Long-term 'temporary' accommodation is hardly the solution.

While rental properties are pricing low-income earners out of the market, there needs to be adequate public housing to meet the demand - but taxpayer funded 'temporary' accommodation should only ever be just that...temporary.