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Submissions to Christchurch Casino’s application to renew its licence for 15 years closed last week.
In its submission, the Problem Gambling Foundation says the commission should not renew the licence until more in-depth research was done on the harm caused by gambling at the casino and the effectiveness of its harm mitigation.
The Foundation says that in 2017 over $2.33 billion was lost to gambling.
That is $6.4 million per day, with $2.4 million lost a day on non-casino pokies.
In its submission, the Foundation said recent research found one in six New Zealanders reported that a family member had “gone without something they needed or a bill has gone unpaid because of gambling.”
The research also found six per cent of adults reported at least one household harm – an argument or going without because of gambling – in the past 12 months.
The foundation said the casino needed to provide the commission with more compelling evidence to prove gambling-related harm was being minimised.
It suggested using a research tool like the Problem Gambling Severity Index, a standardised measure of at-risk behaviour associated with problem gambling.
Christchurch Casino told Stuff it takes its host responsibility role seriously.
In 2017, there were 185 people excluded by the casino and a further 113 self-exclusions.
Darren Henderson, the casino’s Asset Protection and Responsible Gambling Manager, said it had invested in technology to help improve its host responsibility performance.
- Its Servizio software provides automatic real-time alerts to key staff about customers at electronic gaming machines whose play is considered “continuous”
- The casino also works with Focal Research, a Canadian-based company, to develop software that analyses people’s play patterns on electronic gaming machines
- Thirdly, the casino has invested in facial recognition technology, a first for Australasian casinos.
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- pgf.nz
- Image: youtube.com
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