Linda Borner - Gambler's Help 27/7/23 Gallery

This week's guest was Linda Borner - CAFS Gambler's Help Venue Support and Community Engagement Officer. When it comes to sports, Australia shines brightly on the global stage. Unfortunately, the nation also excels in sports betting and the like - claiming the title of the world's number one gambling nation, surpassing Singapore and Ireland. It has become a serious public health issue with an eye watering loss of about $12 billion per year on pokies alone. In Victoria, about $1.5 billion is spent on pokies per year, which causes a third of Victorians to experience harm. Ballarat is ranked 17th highest council in the state for pokies expenditure with approximately $140,000 spent each day. And with online gambling becoming more and more accessible through any internet connected device, the overall trajectory of gambling expenditure is going up. The cost of gambling to the Victorian community has been estimated at $7 billion a year. So Linda goes out into the community in a bid to manage the damage caused by gambling by engaging with community members, professionals, clients and people at risk. Linda says the more we talk about it gambling, its harms and how it affects society, the less stigma will be associated with it. For more information on Gambler's Help call 1800 858 237.