Responding to Gambling

Following are edited extracts from the submission of the Geelong Catholic Social Justice Committee (GCSJC) to the Productivity Commission’s National Public Inquiry into Australia’s Gambling, which is being undertaken at the request of the Federal Treasurer, Peter Costello. The GCSJC submission was prepared on behalf of the committee by Dr Michael Leahy with the assistance of Marita Fitzpatrick, Margrette Lewis, Karen Matthews, Bill Snowdon, Gordon Snowdon and Shirley Carroll.

Summary

The GCSJC submission argues that the Victorian Government, by legalising the casino and electronic gaming machines, has elevated gambling from the status of a largely recreational activity to that of a major industry. The effect of this elevation has been to impose upon it the imperatives inherent in the nature of an industry: to sell its product by maximising its attractions and denying or minimising its hazards.

Further, by allowing itself to become dependent for such a large proportion of its revenue on gambling, the Victorian Government has compromised its role as guardian of the common good, and indeed become an aider and abettor of an industry whose success depends upon its continuing ability to prey upon and exploit the most vulnerable communities in our State.

Church Teaching on Gambling

The GCSJC supports what we take to be the general teaching of the Catholic Church on gambling, which we summarise as follows:

Recommendations

Any changes made to gambling policy in this or any other State ought to be aimed at restoring it to the status of a recreational activity rather than a major industry. Achievement of this aim will require imposition of certain restraints on the promotion and development of the industry. More important, however, than reforms to the industry itself is the renunciation by Government of its vested interest in the industry and resumption of its role of guardian of the common good. The following are our views about some of the measures needed to achieve these aims.

1. Government must reduce its dependence upon gambling revenues. The common good demands that citizens pay and governments levy the taxes required to meet community needs. Governments have a duty to levy those taxes from appropriate sources in ways that are progressive. Wealth taxes, in our view, are much to be preferred over gambling taxes because, unlike gambling, wealth taxes draw more from the better-off. Citizens have a duty in justice, we hold, to pay their fair share of taxes, and governments are entitled to expect them to fulfil that duty.
   
   Indeed, we believe that reform of the role of government would be best achieved by the introduction by the Commonwealth Government of uniform gaming legislation for the nation. The Commonwealth must accept its share of responsibility for the States’ dependence on gambling taxes for their revenues. The strengthening of the income tax system and a clamp-down on tax avoidance seems to us to be demanded by the common good. The cure of the States’ addiction to gambling taxes rests partly in the hands of the Commonwealth. It is not true, however, that the States are powerless achieve reform.
   
2. Government must cease associating itself with promotion of the gambling industry. Not only must it be the guardian of the common good, it must also be seen to be so.
   
3. Government must not only disclose all facts about gambling and its effects, but also actively seek them out with a view to acting to protect the good of the community.
   
4. Government must promote education about the hazards of gambling, and the need for restraint on the part of individuals.
   
5. Government must regulate gambling advertising as strictly as it regulates the advertising of alcohol. All gambling advertising should be required to carry warnings about its hazards. Specifically, we believe that on-screen warnings of the hazards of gambling should appear frequently. Moreover there should be clear warnings on signs displayed prominently in gaming areas. Such signs should also include contact details of counselling agencies. Gamblers should be fully informed of the risks involved in each gambling activity: it is not a fair bet if you don’t know the odds.
   
6. Governments must outlaw unethical promotional practices such as those designed to induce patrons to remain in a venue at critical hours such as school finishing hours, and to abandon restraint in their gambling behaviour.
   
7. Government must amend the law tying gaming hours to liquor trading hours in order to ensure that regulation of gaming hours is decided upon gambling-related evidence and that the Victorian cap on the number of electronic gaming machines is not circumvented by increasing gaming hours.
   
8. Government must restore to municipalities the power to control the number and location of gaming machines in their local communities. To this end it is imperative the Victorian cap on electronic gaming machines be maintained. These powers should ensure that poorer communities cannot be preyed upon by enabling local communities to limit the number, scale and hours of operation of venues in their areas.
   
9. Government must require the industry to disclose all conditions of play including the odds of winning at all forms of gambling.

Contacts for Further Information and Assistance

To join or contact the Geelong Catholic Social Justice Committee’s working group on gambling:

Michael Leahy, 138 The Avenue, Ocean Grove 3226, phone (03) 5256 1656, email mtleahy@deakin.edu.au.

The GCSJC is particularly interested to document instances of hardship resulting from gambling.

For free confidential counselling, community education and information about gambling, a recommended contact for the Geelong region is:

‘Break Even’, phone (03) 5278 8122.

To contact the Interchurch Gambling Taskforce:

Revd Ray Cleary, Chair, c/- 472 Nicholson Street, North Fitzroy 3068, phone (03) 9489 9666, fax (03) 9489 5573, or Revd Tim Costello, phone (03) 9650 1180.

The Interchurch Gambling Taskforce has produced a free brochure about the effects of gambling, Gambling: Won’t affect you?, as well as a recent report, A Review of the Social and Community Consequences of the Cap on Electronic Gaming Machines in Victoria, which is available for $10 from the address given above.

The Taskforce also has a Web site at http://www.sanctum.com.au/gambling-taskforce. However, at time of printing, the information it contains is somewhat dated.

Further information about the National Public Inquiry into Australia’s Gambling can be accessed at the following Wed site, including the complete text of the GCSJC’s submission:

http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiry/gambling

The Community Support Fund

In summary, the goal of the Community Support Fund for 1997–98, as stated in its Annual Report (p. 5), is to ensure Victorians will have a wide choice of high-quality cultural experiences by providing maximum community benefits from its grants. Projects include families in crisis, youth, the arts, tourism, sport and recreation programs that include initiatives to address problem gambling, ‘turning the tide’ drug initiatives and others. These programs are allocated $368,045,805 in total. This amount covers the announced projects as at 31 October 1998. Our Committee has just received a copy of the report (courtesy of Minister of Housing and Aboriginal Affairs, Ann Henderson), and will study its contents with interest.

Geelong, it is noted from a quick perusal, rates a mention with an allocation for the Food Bank, the Geelong Courthouse project, the Geelong Performing Arts Centre and the Geelong Tourist Information Centre. We need to examine the report, particularly for its funding of programs to meet problems created by gambling, and of youth support programs, in order to gauge how effectively the fund is being used to address problems in today’s society.

This Fund is to measured against the government’s total revenue from gambling of $1.4 billion. We note that a large proportion of it has gone to sport and recreation and the arts. The initiative shown in regard to some of the programs like the ‘Turning the Tide’ drug program, for instance, is commendable. However, where the funding for gambling related problems is concerned, we have to ask whether we are now trying to turn the tide after the dam has broken – that we have licensed an industry whose vested interest is in urging us to shed all the restraints we formerly exercised in relation to gambling.

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