Gambling harm
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:11): Yes, my question is to the Minister for Corrections. Minister, research tells us that people suffering from gambling harm can engage in fraud or other crimes to repay gambling debts. A study in the ACT estimated that one-third of adults under a custodial sentence engage in gambling at problematic levels. The Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation undertook research to assess the aggregate burden of harm in our state and included looking at courts and corrections, and one finding was that we do not know the true scale of this problem. For example, the study said:
The jail’s … full of … young … women who don’t necessarily go in for gambling, who go in drug trafficking … a consequence of their gambling.
Minister, do you know how many adults currently in custody in Victoria are there because of the harms from gambling?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:12): I thank Ms Copsey for her question and her interest in the harm caused by gambling and addiction. I think it is a major issue that affects our community more broadly, and I know other ministers in this place – Minister Stitt and others – are very interested in this. It is a whole-of-government approach to tackling these vices. In terms of the corrections system, there are almost 6000 prisoners. Obviously I would not have the number of exactly how many would be due to gambling addiction, but we know it is a large number. In fact last week I was at the Vietnamese women’s association in Richmond. That is an association that does a lot of work in terms of tackling gambling. One of the major causes for women, especially in the Indochinese community, is gambling debt. That has been one of the number one causes of women entering into our corrections system. It is a large number of people in both the women’s and the men’s systems. I am proud that as a government we have the lowest rate of incarceration for women of anywhere in the country, and we will continue to do that work because we know that the best way is to divert people away from the criminal justice system, especially when there are issues such as addiction. I do not have the exact figure on hand, as you would appreciate.
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:13): Thank you, Minister. I feel you have given a good response to that question. If you are able to come across any figures, we would welcome that, if you wanted to forward them outside standing orders. You touched on my supplementary. That same research reports frustration at the lack of diversion programs for crimes from gambling harm. For example, one incarcerated person said:
I’d love to see a diversion program. I reckon that would be so good, like they’ve got for drug and alcohol. Put you on a diversion program rather than put you in prison.
Minister, surely diversion programs would save the state considerable amounts of money and reduce reoffending. Would you support diversion programs for people whose offending behaviour specifically is linked to gambling harm?
Enver ERDOGAN (Northern Metropolitan – Minister for Corrections, Minister for Youth Justice, Minister for Victim Support) (12:14): I thank Ms Copsey for her supplementary question. In relation to the substantive, I will see what I can provide in relation to the amount of people in our adult corrections system affected by gambling. But more broadly, in terms of gambling harm and early intervention, I think we have invested more than any government in the history of this state in early intervention and prevention programs, for a cross-section of different reasons – being drug and alcohol harm but also gambling being a major cause. As a minister in this portfolio I always advocate for greater resources and focus on these issues. These are not just justice issues, they are broader community issues. We all know someone that has been affected by gambling harm in our own families and own communities. I think it is an issue that we need to tackle and need a whole-of-government approach to solve.
The PRESIDENT: A former member of this chamber Rod Barton is in the gallery.