Gambling harm awareness week

Published on 23 October 2025

Gambling awareness

We are stepping up efforts to tackle gambling harm in the community with a new awareness campaign: Don’t Let the Odds Beat You.

Need immediate help with gambling harm?

Gamblers Help Northern via Holstep Health offers confidential support for people experiencing harm from their gambling and for those affected by someone else's gambling.

BetStop – National Self-Exclusion Register is a free service that allows you to self-exclude and block access to all phone and online gambling providers.

The facts

Every day, more than $161,000 is lost on gaming machines in Banyule, adding up to $4.9 million every month across nine local venues.

Behind every dollar lost are the real impacts on families, friends and the wider community, and for every person harmed by gambling, 6 others are affected.

What we are doing

We are committed to creating safer and gamble-free spaces across Banyule, including:

  • blocking access to online gambling sites on our wi-fi
  • removing gambling advertising from Council-owned buildings and libraries
  • ensuring our events are not held in gambling venues.

Mayor Cr Elizabeth Nealy is encouraging people to have honest conversations about gambling harm and to let others know that support is available.

“Gambling harm doesn’t just affect individuals, it affects families, workplaces, and our community,” Cr Nealy said.

“We want people to talk about it more openly and know that help is out there. Services like Gamblers Help Northern offer local free and confidential support, while BetStop makes it easy to block yourself from all licensed online betting platforms."

“Gambling harm can affect anyone, but we know it often hits harder for people on lower incomes, women, and multicultural communities. We want to make sure people know help is available and that they’re not alone.”

Don’t let the odds beat you.

Resources

References Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC). (2025). Electronic Gaming Machine (EGM) expenditure by Local Government Area, 2024/2025. Retrieved online. (Figures: $59,053,994 annual, $4,921,166 monthly, $161,791 daily for Banyule.)

Goodwin, B. C., Browne, M., Rockloff, M., & Rose, J. (2017). 'A typical problem gambler affects six others'. International Gambling Studies, 17(2), 276–289. Retrieved online.

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