Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

A "one-stop shop" treating problem gamblers in Sydney is reporting a 50 per cent success rate. Run by The Salvation Army in cooperation with the Fairfield RSL club in Sydney's south-west, The Sydney Problem Gambling Centre opened in October last year. In its first annual report, published today, the centre said it had answered 400 telephone inquiries and conducted 561 counselling sessions. "Of those who continue with counselling, (the centre) has reported a 50 per cent success rate in radically altering the behaviour of the problem gambler,'' the report said. Gerard Byrne, from the centre, said its success was attributable to the rare concentration of a range of services in the one location. "We are offering what we see as a one-stop shop for people with a gambling problem,'' Mr Byrne said. "We have gambling intervention workers, or counsellors. We also have therapists there to provide intervention for depression and anxiety, and to provide family counselling. "We have a financial counselling service and located next door to us is a Salvation Army church and community service centre providing welfare and social assistance. "Added to that, our telephone help service line diverts to the Salvo Careline for out of hours support. So in a sense we are there 24/7.'' Problem gamblers from as far away as Queensland and Wagga Wagga have taken the even-money odds to saving themselves and their families from the devastating effects of problem gambling. The typical problem gambler in counselling at the centre is a man aged between 36 and 46, who is hooked on poker machines and abuses alcohol. A pioneer in the treatment of problem gamblers in Las Vegas, Rob Hunter, has been recruited by the Fairfield RSL club to consult on the centre and train the club's staff on intervention. The coincidence of problem gambling and alcohol abuse among 80 per cent of all people counselled at the Sydney centre was higher than at his Las Vegas centre, Dr Hunter said, but not unexpected.

"The biology of problem gambling is very similar to alcoholism,'' he said.

"They are both chronic and progressive disorders. Both meet the medical criteria for what constitutes an illness.

"And the pay-off for both is not so much excitement but a numbness, they like the anaesthetic effect.''

Twenty per cent of all clients assessed by the centre admitted to suicidal thoughts.

Problem gambling affects more than 1.5 million people around Australia, including gamblers and their families, and in NSW it's on the rise.