Examining gambling by staff from Victorian gaming venues: a comparison with the general Victorian population

Ready accessibility to gambling suggests employees in gaming venues may be an at-risk group for gambling problems. However, little related research exists. This paper reports on a study that measured the gambling behaviour of gaming venue employees in Victoria, Australia. Primary data were collected through a survey of 533 hotel and club employees during 2007. The staff survey found substantially higher gambling participation rates than for the Victorian population. In addition, staff respondents were more likely to be regular gamblers than the Victorian population, gambling at least weekly on electronic gaming machines, Club Keno, instant scratch tickets, horse or greyhound races, and sportsbetting. Most notably, the prevalence of problem gambling was almost six times higher for gaming venue employees than for the general population, as measured by the Problem Gambling Severity Index.