Gambling addicts losing it all

Gambling addicts losing it all

TASMANIANS are stealing food, nappies and even baby formula as they struggle to cope with gambling addiction.

A shocking new study has found that half of all Tasmanian gambling addicts who committed a crime as a result of their habit were first-time offenders who held senior management positions or positions of trust.

In the past five years, 41 people have appeared in the Tasmanian Supreme Court charged over gambling-related thefts involving $6.8 million.

The largest theft was $4.5 million and the smallest $539.

The cost to the Tasmanian taxpayer to jail the offenders was $3.8 million, or an average of $263 a person a day.

Four cases before the courts also involved drug trafficking in an effort to fund the gambling addiction. Six of the cases involved violent crimes.

Anglicare Tasmania yesterday released the findings of its new report, Nothing Left To Lose, which calls for better consumer protection and new sentencing options for Tasmania's growing number of gambling addicts.

Report author Margie Law said there was a clear link between crime and problem gambling.

Ms Law said gambling was clearly causing ordinary people to do things they would not ordinarily do.

In half the cases between 2004 and 2009, the offender had no previous convictions and had become caught in a gambling web.

"In all 21 cases involving first offenders, the crime was not violent and prior to their conviction the majority of these people were employed and often held positions of trust," Ms Law said.

"Many of them were under stress from work and family pressures and turned to gambling as a form of relief. What they got instead was escalating debt and a prison sentence."

One of the most notable convictions was that of Tasmanian Crown prosecutor Michael Shirley who stole $200,000 in cash, seized mostly from drug dealers, to feed his addiction to Keno.

Mr Shirley was jailed in 2008 and is eligible for parole in March.

The study found that 28 men and 13 women were jailed for gambling-related crimes. Six offenders had dependent children who were most likely forced into foster care as a result of the parents' imprisonment.

Ms Law said the lack of information surrounding crimes linked to gambling needed to be improved by courts to get a true snapshot of the problem.

"The paper does not argue that crimes should not be punished but until public policy truly protects people from an activity that can cause such devastating harm, public policy is tricking people into thinking that gambling is a harmless activity," she said.

"The gambling industry knows how to market its products to encourage people to gamble and keep on gambling."

Federal Group spokesman Brendan Blomeley said new measures had already been introduced to deal with problem gambling as a result of a State Government review.

The Federal Group holds the monopoly on poker machines and casinos in Tasmania.

Treasurer Michael Aird said it would be pre-emptive to legislate for a $1-a-spin bet limit before the Productivity Commission finalised its report late next month.