Municipality seeks views on gambling harm

THE community is invited to shape the future of gambling harm prevention across the City of Ballarat.

The municipality’s gambling harm prevention taskforce is asking community members to complete a survey on the City of Ballarat’s MySay website.

The aim of the survey is to gain a stronger understanding of the community’s attitudes towards gambling.

Information collected from the survey will guide the future of both the taskforce and the City of Ballarat’s gambling harm minimisation policy.

“Our Health and Wellbeing Plan identifies that gambling harm is a significant issue in Ballarat and that we need to figure out ways to address it,” mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves said.

“The nature of gambling is rapidly changing in Australia, so it is important we regularly check in with the community to understand the situation locally.

“While councils do not have a lot of legislative power when it comes to gambling, there are many positive impacts we can have but first we need to update our understanding of its impact on the community to help prevent harms where possible.”

The municipality’s gambling harm minimisation policy was adopted in April 2022 and outlines the City of Ballarat’s responsibility in relation to reducing gambling harm.

The policy is due to be reviewed next year.

A drop-in session will be held on Tuesday 28 October from 10am until 12pm at Barkly Square.

To collect a hard copy of the survey, visit The Phoenix Building, 25 Armstrong Street South, Ballarat.

Engagement closes on Sunday 9 November.