Gambling harm
Mr NORTHE (Morwell) (09:54): I wish to reference the Gambling and Suicide Prevention: A Roadmap for Change report, commissioned by Suicide Prevention Australia and Financial Counselling Australia, and Suicide Prevention Australia’s Victorian election priorities document titled Addressing Gambling Related Suicides. Both these documents are compelling, and ahead of the upcoming election I encourage all members of this chamber to read and digest the recommendations whilst noting the heart-wrenching stories about shattered lives. Importantly these documents do offer solutions and reforms that I hope all political parties and candidates will take to the 2022 election. Why? Because once implemented the changes proposed in these documents will save lives, and surely this is something we must all aspire to. I recently met with the coroner, and we discussed the gaping holes in the system that lead people to self-harming, attempted suicide or dying as a result of gambling or gambling-related problems. We need to close these gaps urgently, and these are real and simple solutions at hand to make a positive difference if there is the will. I am not asking for a ban on gambling, but we need to desperately take the following actions: limit or ban gambling advertising, obtain more data to understand the breadth of gambling-related suicides, provide investment support where gambling-related self-harm incidents occur, have appropriate gambling rehabilitation treatment supports, improve coordination between service providers, have better referral pathways, enhance consumer protections for customers of banks and online betting companies, and implement therapeutic justice for those low-level crimes.