Australia's Gambling Industries - Productivity Commission

Table J.10
continued
People a Per person cost assumption
Low High Low High
Total cost
No. $ $ $ million $ million
Depression d
Rarely to sometimes 108 320 ne ne ne ne
Often to always 46 160 5 000 15 000 231 692
Seriously thought of suicide e
Gambler 7 972 15 000 30 000 120 239
Attempted suicide
Gambler 2 348 30 000 50 000 70 117
Immediate family 5 377 15 000 30 000 81 161
Parents 4 212 0 5 000 0 21
Effective suicides 35 – 60 ne ne ne ne
PG problem gambler. ne not estimated. a Excludes breakdown of a relationship, divorce and separation
and attempted suicide numbers who are estimated separately. b Excludes attempted suicide group who are
estimated separately, and parents for whom the gambler reported ‘no effect at all’. c Excludes divorce and
separation numbers. d Excludes subsequent suicide groups. e Excludes attempted suicide group. All
numbers include the causality adjustment.
Source: PC estimates.
Treatment and other costs
In addition to the costs borne by the problem gambler and his or her family,
governments fund a range of services to assist problem gamblers. Chapter 16
reviews the provision of such services. The Commission estimated that in 1997-98,
governments provided $20 million for gambling counselling services throughout
Australia.
Other costs that have not been estimated include the costs of treatment provided by a
range of voluntary agencies, and non-government contributions to the cost of
treatment. In addition, governments are increasingly funding research into gambling
and problem gambling, together with information for the general community on the
risks of problem gambling. These costs have also not been included in the
Commission’s estimates.
Adding up the ‘measurable’ costs
In total, the above estimates of costs that problem gambling imposes annually
amount to $1.8 billion to $5.6 billion (excluding the unmeasurable costs) (table
J.11).
J.36 GAMBLING