The Gambling Help Service is a free service funded by the Queensland State government and delivered by a network of community based service providers to Queenslanders experiencing problems with gambling.
The Relationships Australia Queensland Gambling Help Service assists people to respond to problems associated with gambling. The Gambling Help Service can assist if:
- you are concerned about your own gambling;
- you are affected by the gambling of a family member or friend;
- you are a health and community support worker, working with people affected by problem gambling; or
- you are a community member interested in understanding more about responsible and problem gambling.
To make an appointment to talk with a counsellor or educator, please call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can assist you to find services in your local area.
The service offers a range of types of assistance including:
- confidential face to face and telephone counselling for people experiencing problems with gambling, their own or a friend or family members’, including personal, financial and relationship counselling;
- referral to other community agencies to better meet specific needs;
- support with self-exclusion from gambling venues;
- identification and intervention education for health and community support workers working with people affected by problem gambling;
- responsible gambling community education activities; and
- responsible gambling education for gambling industry.
To make an appointment to talk with a counsellor or educator, please call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can assist you to find services in your local area.
Gambling can become a problem for some people and for their families and communities. Problem associated with gambling can be wide ranging and include:
- financial issues,
- emotional issues,
- relationship issues,
- employment and employability issues,
- legal issues, and
- physical and mental health issues.
Problem Gambling Severity Index Survey - you can take this self-assessment is based on the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (Ferris & Wynne, 2001). The quiz allows you to consider how your gambling compares to a measure of risk around gambling.
To make an appointment to talk with a counsellor or educator, please call the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can assist you to find services in your local area.
If you require crisis assistance, call Lifeline 13 11 14 or if you are in immediate danger call 000.
Counselling offers individuals an opportunity to consider what is happening in their life and what they would like to be happening. Gambling help counsellors talk with their clients to look at what is currently happening and explore changes that they may make.
Gambling help counselling can occur either
- in a face to face session in our rooms or
- over the phone from wherever you are.
Our sessions are usually scheduled to run for one hour.
Individuals accessing gambling help counselling meet with a counsellor in a private session, where the counsellor will invite the individual to explain what has prompted them to seek help and what they are hoping will happen to improve the difficulties they are currently experiencing.
Client and counsellor work together with the issues the client brings. Counsellors don’t tell clients to stop gambling, or what to do. The counsellor may guide a client, by asking some assessment questions to build an understanding of how gambling is affecting the client’s emotional, social, relational, vocational and financial life.
The counsellor may support the client to develop goals for change and begin problem solving. During sessions, client and counsellor may generate strategies which clients try out between sessions. In later sessions, client and counsellor review the newly implemented strategies.
Once some goals are attained, client and counsellor consider and prepare for any relapse risks. They also prepare for managing gambling and change after counselling ends.
The issues and concerns that each person brings to counselling are unique, so what each person addresses in counselling will vary. How long each person attends counselling will be influenced by their individual goals and their progress towards these goals.
During counselling it is common for client and counsellor to work together to:
- explore and set goals for change;
- gain understanding of gambling;
- increase awareness of triggers for gambling and to consider ways to avoid these triggers or respond differently to triggers;
- understand and address underlying issues linked to problem gambling;
- address the impacts of gambling on relationships and family life;
- address debts, deal with creditors, re-organize financial affairs, understand legal rights and responsibilities around financial commitments and learn money management strategies, and
identify and plan for relapse risks.
Financial counsellors can assist people experiencing financial problems associated with gambling.
Our Financial Counsellors:
- provide comprehensive financial assessment;
- explore options, pros and cons;
- assist with money management skills and understanding where money is going;
- explore emotional triggers and the cycle of change;
- introduce cash safety net strategies;
- offer education and information on clients’ rights and responsibility relating to debt and debt collection;
- offer information on consumer credit laws and legal rights;
- may provide advocacy in hardship applications, negotiations with creditors, payment arrangements and waivers;
- provide information and support around internal dispute resolution and ombudsman scheme;
- provide information on government eligibility schemes;
- provide information about bankruptcy;
- make referrals.
Did you know that more than 1 in 5 of your clients could be impacted by gambling problems? Would you know how to identify, support and refer them?
Many people who experience problems with gambling will also experience other issues and are likely to present to a range of helping professionals for assistance. The Gambling Help Service aims to support community and support workers to identify and support problem gamblers wherever they present for help.
Gambling Help Service community educators offer free education that can be customised to meet the specific needs of a wide range of health and community support workers.
Our educators will work with you to identify the learning needs of your staff and customize training.
Our training content may include:
- overview of gambling in Queensland;
- introduction to problem gambling;
- signs and symptoms of problem gambling ;
- orientation to gambling help intervention and services;
- screening for problem gambling;
- working with people who have gambling problems; and
- working with specific populations including seniors, youth, families, CALD groups
Call 1800 858 858 to talk to an educator in your area about your training needs.
id="Industry">Responsible Gambling Education for Gambling Industry
Gambling Help Service educators work with gambling industry staff to identify and implement techniques to reduce the risk of problem gambling within the venue and to identify and respond to problem gamblers within their venues.
Educators can offer information sessions in your venue, tailored to venue and gaming staff needs. Sessions may include:
- responsible and risky gambling;
- venue practices to reduce the risk of problem gambling;
- new research on indicators of problem gambling behaviour in the venue;
- techniques for responding to problem gamblers in venue;
- orientation to services to help problem gamblers;
- self-exclusion information and support.
Call 1800 858 858 to talk to an educator in your area about your training needs.
Gambling Help Service community educators work with the community to reduce the risk of problem gambling in the community through primary prevention. Educators offer information and education to community members who are not experiencing gambling related harm. They work to increase awareness and build community capacity in order to maintain wellness in relation to gambling and reduce the risk of problem gambling.
Groups such as schools, recreational and sporting groups may use gambling help community education to promote wellness within their group. Our educators can work with your community group to maintain wellness through introducing:
- concepts around responsible and risky gambling;
- features of problem gambling;
- risk factors for problem gambling and strategies to reduce risk; and
- gambling help services available.
Community groups are invited to discuss your group’s training interests with our educators. Our educators will work with you to identify your learning needs and customize training.
Call 1800 858 858 to talk to an educator in your area about your training needs.
Take the Problem Gambling Severity Index Survey.
Based on the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (Ferris & Wynne, 2001), the self-assessment quiz allows you to consider how your gambling campares to a measure of risk around gambling.