Assessing the efficacy of responsible gambling strategies in Sydney clubs

This paper reports on work in progress to assess the perceived efficacy of responsible gambling strategies in place in a regulated environment, NSW. More specifically, the research aims to survey the members often large Sydney clubs to assess their level of awareness, perceived adequacy and perceived effectiveness of their club's current responsible gambling strategies . Data from a mail questionnaire survey distributed to 10,000 club members will be analysed overall, and for different subsets of gamblers, including 'at-risk' and 'recreational' gamblers, men compared to women, different age groups and those who participate in different forms of club gambling. As such, the research hopes to inform a more grounded approach to responsible provision of gambling, one developed from the player base most at risk of gambling problems. To date, responsible gambling programs have been developed using a 'top-down' approach initiated by governments, gambling providers and key stakeholders in the industry, and few attempts have been made to evaluate their implementation or effectiveness.