Lived Experience Story: Honour mistakes through acceptance and growth – My gambling story

I am a young Aussie bloke who loves sport and competition – gambling was immediately attractive to me. 

First, I started betting small amounts on sports, at the casino, and at the races. Always with friends, always having a good time and not necessarily focusing on the gambling itself. I enjoyed the thrill and loved working out “strategies” to win. One night when I was in my late teens, I woke up in the middle of the night 

Consumer Voices July 2021-December 2022

Our latest Consumer Voices program concluded in December 2022 and we would like to share some of the findings from the evaluation report we submitted to ORG in January 2023…

Raising Our Voices

Raising OUR Voices The Gambling Impact Society (GIS) has been delivering free lived experience/personal narrative based community education programs, across NSW since 2012. These programs have been funded by government grants at both federal and state level. More recently  (2021-22) we received had direct and dedicated funding from the NSW Office of Responsible Gambling (ORG)…

Lived Experience Story – “It only took one big win.”

Picture if you will, a 10 year old girl who is in such a dark place that going to sleep and not waking up was the only answer.  That was me, and the first attempt at suicide. My home life was one of absolute misery.  I was a victim of alcohol fuelled abuse, as were…

Position Statement: The Need for Meaningful Poker Machine Gambling Reform in NSW

Gambling harm is a co-created phenomenon. The institutional, structural, and technological arrangements, which make up this phenomenon, requires meaningful reform (Roberts, 2021). There is an urgent need for public health policy development led by our elected government, in consultation with those with lived experiences of gambling harms, and not led by vested commercial interests. To…

Lived Experience Story

I woke up on Christmas Eve 2017 and honestly wished I hadn’t. This was my ‘rock bottom’ and I’m here speaking to you today in the hopes I can prevent others from having to reach that point. My name is Enrique, I’m 47 years old and from the Illawarra. Today I’m going to tell you…

Consumer Voices – sharing their views: My Husband’s COVID Gambling Fast

My husband, a man with a gambling problem, found himself after the long gambling fast, faced with the reopening of the clubs and pubs, his regular preferred venues, and the reawakening of his problem

Consumer Voices – sharing their views: Recovery during COVID-19

I am a recovering compulsive gambler.  My last bet was in December 2000.