DIA Regional Forum
June 2015
Ministry of Health Update
tai_kake@moh.govt.nz
Whakatauāki
He aha te me nui o te ao?
He tangata, he tangata, he tangata
What is the most important thing in the
world?
It is people, it is people, it is people
Goals
1. Upcoming consultation for new Preventing and
Minimising Gambling Harm Strategy
2. Key research findings and upcoming reports
3. Discuss implications of findings
Gambling Act 2003
Section 317
An integrated problem gambling strategy must include—
•
measures to promote public health by preventing and minimising the harm from
gambling; and
•
services to treat and assist problem gamblers and their families and whanau; and
•
independent scientific research associated with gambling, including (for example)
longitudinal research on the social and economic impacts of gambling, particularly
the impacts on different cultural groups; and (d) evaluation.
Section 318
•
requirement to consult about the overall strategy
•
undertake a needs assessment
•
develop costings
Strategic context
• Current Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm Strategic Plan ends
30 June 2016.
• The needs assessment and consultation document for the new plan is
intended to be released by August/Sept 2015
• Levy calculation for new plan incorporates changes to the Gambling Act to
address under- or over-recovery from each sector in previous levy periods.
National Gambling Study (key findings)
March 2012-Dec 2015, 6251 adult New Zealanders
Overall participation has decreased since 1990s
• 80% NZ adults participated in 2012 (similar to 2010 & 2005) but
lower than the 1990’s participation of 90 %
Key risk factors for gambling harm have decreased
• significant decrease in adults who gamble weekly or more. In
2012, only 22% gambled this often, 40 % in 1999
• frequent participation in continuous gambling decreased to 6% in
2012, compared to 10% in 1999
National Gambling Study (key findings)
Prevalence of problem gambling stable over last decade
• 0.7% New Zealand adults were problem gamblers (23,504 people)
• 1.8% were moderate-risk gamblers (60,440 people), and 5% were
low-risk gamblers (167,888 people)
• 430,000 New Zealand adults could not pay their bills or went
without something they needed because of gambling
Inequalities are enduring
• problem gambling rates for Māori (6.2%) are more than 3x higher
than Europeans (1.8%); the rate for Pacific peoples is more than
4x higher (8%)
• rates for low socio-economic groups also higher
National Gambling Study (key findings)
Problem gambling is associated with harmful behaviours and
poor health outcomes
•
•
•
•
•
hazardous drinkers 60%
smoked weekly 71%
recreational drug use 47%,
fair or poor health 33%
46% high or very high psychological distress.
Electronic Gaming Machine gambling is associated with harm
• weekly or more participation in non-casino and casino EGM
playing is strongly associated with problem gambling
Gambling venue characteristics, PIDS and Pop-ups
Study
PIDS and pop-up messages do not have a negative impact on
the enjoyment or satisfaction of the majority of EGM gamblers in
either casinos, pubs, or club venues
Benefits
1/4 of EGM gamblers who were aware of pop-up messages reported
the messages aided their control over the time and the amount of
money they spent on EGM gambling
Unintended consequences
A small number of EGM gamblers may be using the information from
the PIDS/Pop-up messages as part of a gambling strategy
Gambling venue characteristics, PIDS and Pop-ups
Study
Signs of Harm
annoyance or distress related to pop-up messages may be a sign of
gambling problems and a potential prompt for venue staff to
approach these gamblers
However, there was little evidence that venue staff were engaging
with gamblers who were experiencing problems or spending upwards
of two hours on an EGM machine
QUIZ
Q1: Has the prevalence of problem gambling
increased? Decreased? Or not changed in the past
decade?
Q2: Which groups currently have the highest rates
of problem gambling?
Q3: What role can venue staff play in improving
outcomes for gamblers and whanau?
tai_kake@moh.govt.nz
Break Out
Upcoming reports
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
National Gambling Study Reports 3, 4
Offshore Gambling Report
Effectiveness of Telephone-based therapies
Smart-phone SPGeTTi Study
Burden of Gambling Harm Study
Financial Literacy & Budgeting Study
Effectiveness of a Sinking lid Policy for Māori
Family Violence Study
Gambling Harm Study
Budget
• The total research and evaluation budget for the 2013/14 to 2015/16 service
plan is $6,629,751. The budget for the previous plan was $6,146,146.
Service
2013/14 ($)
2014/15 ($)
2015/16 ($)
Total ($)
Research projects
2,129,751
1,750,000
1,600,000
5,479,751
Outcomes and
Evaluation
500,000
375,000
275,000
1,150,000
Total ($)
2,629,751
2,125,000
1,875,000
6,629,751