According to many Elders, gambling is destroying Aboriginal communities. Kooris have always gambled with each other as a social activity, however the money would always stay in the community.
But it’s different now. The pokies take money from these communities and they never see it again. Many communities are impoverished enough as it is. They don’t need to lose money gambling.
The impact of gambling on Aboriginal communities is different to the general community. A white person with a gambling addiction tends to be embarrassed and may try to conceal the fact that s/he has a problem. The results are tragic but limited to that particular individual and their immediate family.
But when an Aboriginal person gambles away all his money, he often finds that his family and community will rally around and support him financially rather than let him go bankrupt. As a result, the debt is shared and the entire community ends up paying for one person’s problem.
It’s not all bad news though. There is help out there for Aboriginal gamblers, including financial and psychological counselling. There is also a program in Victoria, Gambler’s Help, that is encouraging people to come forward with their gambling problems.
One such person is Nicole Buckley, who nearly destroyed her life thanks to a gambling habit. A member of the Wurrundjeri tribe, Nicky is 30 and lives in Thornbury, Victoria. She has two children and is divorced.
Nicole would hide unpaid bills from her ex-husband, having blown all the money on the pokies. Sometimes she would sneak out of bed at three o’clock in the morning to go to the pokies while he was asleep.
It was not uncommon for her to blow her entire supporting parent benefit of $350 in 30 minutes of gambling frenzy, leaving her and her children destitute for a fortnight. Things finally came to a head and Nicole contemplated suicide as a result of her addiction.
Nicole decided to discuss her problems with a counsellor from Gambler’s Help. She joined a Koorie women’s peer group and found support there too. Now that she has faced up to her problem and looked at ways to combat it, she is much happier than she was.
Nicole hasn’t “done the pokies” in a while now, and if she feels tempted she has a network of people she can call on immediately. Now that she’s not gambling anymore, Nicole has money for her children and herself.
But it’s different now. The pokies take money from these communities and they never see it again. Many communities are impoverished enough as it is. They don’t need to lose money gambling. The impact of gambling on Aboriginal communities is different to the general community. A white person with a gambling addiction tends to be embarrassed and may try to conceal the fact that s/he has a problem. The results are tragic but limited to that particular individual and their immediate family. But when an Aboriginal person gambles away all his money, he often finds that his family and community will rally around and support him financially rather than let him go bankrupt. As a result, the debt is shared and the entire community ends up paying for one person’s problem. It’s not all bad news though. There is help out there for Aboriginal gamblers, including financial and psychological counselling. There is also a program in Victoria, Gambler’s Help, that is encouraging people to come forward with their gambling problems. One such person is Nicole Buckley, who nearly destroyed her life thanks to a gambling habit. A member of the Wurrundjeri tribe, Nicky is 30 and lives in Thornbury, Victoria. She has two children and is divorced. Nicole would hide unpaid bills from her ex-husband, having blown all the money on the pokies. Sometimes she would sneak out of bed at three o’clock in the morning to go to the pokies while he was asleep. It was not uncommon for her to blow her entire supporting parent benefit of $350 in 30 minutes of gambling frenzy, leaving her and her children destitute for a fortnight. Things finally came to a head and Nicole contemplated suicide as a result of her addiction. Nicole decided to discuss her problems with a counsellor from Gambler’s Help. She joined a Koorie women’s peer group and found support there too. Now that she has faced up to her problem and looked at ways to combat it, she is much happier than she was. Nicole hasn’t “done the pokies” in a while now, and if she feels tempted she has a network of people she can call on immediately. Now that she’s not gambling anymore, Nicole has money for her children and herself.
Comments are closed.