Gambling addiction tied to 184 suicides in Victoria over 8 years

A new study by Dr Angela Rintoul from the Federation University has examined coroner’s court data and has established a possible link between 184 suicides and gambling addiction over the period of eight years, between 2009 and 2016. The research was funded by the National Suicide Prevention Research Fund as the organization continues to flesh out hard data about how gambling can impact livelihoods and entire lives.

To determine whether gambling or gambling-related harm had to do anything with suicide cases, Rintoul’s team used court case information that was vetted for specific keywords, such as "TAB," "SportsBet," "pokies," "casino," "betting," "gambling," and "wagering," allowing the team to narrow down the search entries and focus on cases that were likely to be linked to gambling to some extent.

The study was published in the Lancer Regional Health Journal and it details the research conducted by Dr Rintoul and her colleagues. According to the findings of the study, 184 suicides of men aged between 17 and 44 can be attributed to their gambling habits.

However, this number ought to be taken with a caveat, as Rintoul has taken a rather conservative approach, and looked for hard data first. The researcher also acknowledges that the actual number may be much higher as gambling is not something that coroners investigate "routinely."

Therefore, there may be other cases that have been lost in procedure and red tape. "This study shows that gambling contributes to a considerable proportion of suicide cases," the report purports and urges coroners to consider whether gambling could have played a role in the cause of death.

Rintoul has also issued another caveat, as the researcher warned that the levels of actual gambling have gone up since 2016, and it’s likely that suicides have increased too, not least because of the lockdowns and the prevalence of online gambling, which is not always regulated.

Worse, there are significant societal costs that gambling inflicts, which are usually due to ineffective or bad regulation of the sector. Meanwhile, Rintoul strongly recommends that potential gambling-related suicides ought to be investigated by coroners more carefully, and specifically looked for when examining a body, or detailing why an individual committed suicide.

Those numbers, Rintoul and others argue, ought to bereported in parliament annually so that timely actions may be undertaken if and when needed. The report comes amid a state-wide commitment to do better by consumers and protect them from the pernicious influences of pokies.

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