A reformed gambling addict, who once blew $40,000 in less than six months, has backed Brimbank council’s push for pokie profits to directly fund community projects.
Victoria University PhD student Gabriella Byrne now helps Brimbank problem gamblers through her not-for-profit program Chrysalis.
She supports Brimbank council administrator Jane Nathan’s view that pokie profits should go directly back to the areas where they are initially spent.
“That’s money spent [on pokies] that would normally be spent in society, in local businesses,” she said. “The least you can do is try to put it back in the community.”
Chrysalis, which launched in the north-west last year, is yet to gain another year’s funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.
“We’re currently helping about 25 people in the Brimbank area,” Ms Byrne said. “This is a nerve-racking time, the momentum is there.”
With Brimbank the state’s leading loser when it comes to poker machines – $141.6 million down last financial year – Ms Byrne urges addicts to reach out for help.
“There are a lot of good services out there. It doesn’t hurt to make a phone call. There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need help.”
Ms Byrne said her work helps people such as the single mother who blew $7000 in two hours on a one-cent machine.
“It obviously causes financial ruin, but they struggle the most with what they become,” she said. “Finances are not the biggest worry; it’s the lies and deceit, the neglect, physically and emotionally. They have to live with the consequences – I used to miss my children’s school concerts,” Ms Byrne said.
