Preventing Gambling-Related Harm to Women Experiencing Family Violence

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2. We wouldliketo payour respectstothetraditionalownersoftheland on which we meet today, acknowledge their elders, past, present and emerging and acknowledge the important role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people play in addressing violence against women, children and men in our community. 2

3. Project objectives A prevention project focusing on the link between family violence and gambling, with a view to reducing harm from gambling and to increase the safety of women experiencing violence from male partners in households where there is also harm from gambling. Aims: To increase awareness about the link between family violence and gambling-related harm with service providers and within the community. To strengthen: the relationships between the family violence and problem gambling sectors; risk assessment mechanisms; and referral pathways and service delivery. 3

4. The Project • Key partners: • Women's Health In the North • Women’s Heath East • North East Primary Care Partnership • Funded through the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF) from July 2014 to June 2017. • Based in northern and eastern metropolitan regions of Melbourne. 4

5. Why Do This Work? • Family violence is three times more likely to occur in families in which there is significant harm from gambling than in families in which there is no gambling related harm1 • A lack of a gendered understanding of the link between family violence and harm from gambling 1. Dowling, N. A., Ewin, C., Youssef, G. J., Thomas, S. A., & Jackson, A. C. Problem gambling and family violence: Findings from a population representative community study. Manuscript in preparation 5

6. Community and Sector-wide Project Activities • Cross-sector engagement and consultations to inform project activities • Community education and awareness raising within community and gambling and family violence sectors 6

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8. Project Activities: Professional Development • Professional development - family violence and Gambler’s Help sectors • We have trained nearly 100 counsellors across Victoria • Working with No to Violence • Working with different therapeutic and response frameworks: women and child first, safety as priority versus gambling as an addiction 8

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11. Project Activities: Current Focus • Cross-sector engagement and consultations to inform project activities • Community education and awareness raising within community and gambling and family violence sectors • Professional development - family violence and Gambler’s Help sectors • A digital resource, focussing on the prevention of violence against women and prevention of harm from gambling • Working to influence policy at all levels of government with a particular focus on local councils 11

12. The link between EGMs and family violence • There is also a direct correlation between the density of poker machines in an area and rates of family incidents and family violence incidents involving police*. • In Victorian postcodes with no EGMs: • 20% fewer family incidents per 10,000 population; and • 30% fewer domestic-violence assaults per 10,000. • when compared with postcodes with 75 electronic gaming machines per 10,000. • * i.e. certain events only - not representative of the full range of violence included under the Family Violence Protection Act (2008) Markham et al (2016) 12 12

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17. Structural change • Supporting regional partners with work related to harm from gambling such as local councils and community groups • Understanding gender inequality as a the key gendered driver of violence against women information session with the VRGF • Seeking to embed gendered research into the gambling sector 17

18. Where to from here? • Research into women’s experiences of this link - women’s voices are key • Applying a feminist intersectional approach to understanding this issue • Continuing to explore the link between gambling and financial abuse 18