News and media releases from 2021

The launch of the Foundation’s second RAP was an opportunity to reflect on what we have learned so far. It was a privilege to do that in the company of RAP expert adviser Rod Jackson and Geraldine Atkinson, co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.

Today’s young adults are the first generation to have been exposed to the mass marketing of gambling products throughout their lifetime. It’s a topic that stirs up conversations when the Foundation’s ‘Be ahead of the game’ school education program is rolled out in the classroom.

Some communities are particularly vulnerable to gambling harm. Foundation-funded researchers highlighted some of their findings during a Gambling Harm Awareness Week event that focused on lived experiences of risk, resilience and help-seeking.

In a busy few months, the Foundation has led Gambling Harm Awareness Week events and launched a new Reconciliation Action Plan.

South East Melbourne Phoenix has joined the Melbourne Boomers and 600+ clubs in a range of sporting codes across Victoria to say no to sports betting sponsorship.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has welcomed Western United as the second elite soccer club to join the Love the Game program, alongside rival team Melbourne Victory and more than 600 other Victorian sporting partners united against sports betting sponsorship.

The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation has awarded $400,000 to the Australian Vietnamese Women’s Association (AVWA) for projects that will aim to prevent and reduce incarceration rates related to gambling harm.

New research shows that people with an intellectual disability who gamble on the pokies are unlikely to be aware of the potential for negative consequences, which is a clear...

Health care professionals in Ballarat will pilot a new Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation developed screening tool, which aims to connect treatment and support for people who struggle with gambling....

Gambling Harm Awareness Week (18–24 October 2021) is the ideal time to start a conversation with family, friends, neighbours and others about the negative effects of gambling, share ideas to prevent gambling harm, and find ways to support people who experience harm as a result of their own or someone else’s gambling. A new series of videos created by the Foundation, with the expertise of University of Melbourne neuroscientist Dr Jared Cooney Horvath, explain how gambling affects the way the brain functions and, importantly, how an addiction can be reversed.

Gamer to gambler by Caleb Bond. Published by Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne, 29 August 2021. Young Australians are being sucked into the vortex of gambling addiction at...

On 24 August 2021, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation approved an application by Kyabram Club Inc to increase the number of pokies at the Kyabram Club (Shire of Campaspe) from 53 to 65.

The Victorian Government is continuing to support people at risk of gambling harm, investing in a localised support project across the Latrobe Valley. Reclink Australia has been selected to deliver the $600,000 Latrobe Valley Gambling Harm Prevention Project, which will deliver community sports, arts and recreation programs to people at risk of gambling harm, including those who may be experiencing social isolation and poor mental health.

Cricket Victoria has demonstrated its support for the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s new Join the club campaign, today renewing its commitment to reducing kids’ exposure to sports betting promotions through a one-year extension to its Love the Game partnership.

The Victorian Government is prioritising the needs of young First Nations people, launching Australia’s first youth specific First Nations Gambling Awareness program on Wadawurrung Country. Aboriginal-owned organisation Strong Brother Strong Sister has been selected to deliver the Djilang Gambling Awareness Program, which will provide support to young people affected by their own or their family’s gambling activities. The program will receive $250,000 over 15 months to help young Wadawurrung people pursue self-determination through social, emotional, and health and wellbeing measures, with a key focus on minimising gambling harm.

On 19 July 2021, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation refused an application by Jayeesar Pty Ltd to increase the number of pokies at the Robin Hood Hotel (City of Ballarat) from 20 to 28. On 16 August 2021, the commission published the reasons for its decision.

Major sporting clubs and local sporting leaders have united in response to community concern about the effect of prolific sports betting advertising on young people in the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s new Love the Game campaign.

On 23 July 2021, the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation released figures on pokies expenditure for the 2020-21 financial year.

Foundation CEO Shane Lucas discusses the Foundation’s submission to the Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne and the establishment of a telehealth Community of Practice.

The Foundation’s submission to the Royal Commission into the Casino Operator and Licence provided evidence based on contemporary research into the broad social impact of gambling-related harm.