AUSTRALIA SUMMIT TACKLES PROBLEM GAMBLING

10.06.2010 [23:13]
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Baku, June 10 (AZERTAC). The industry is being urged to do more to address problem gambling A gambling reform summit is taking place in Sydney as campaigners in Australia look at ways to curb high rates of addiction, according to BBC.

It is estimated there are 300,000 problem gamblers in Australia - the equivalent to the population of the national capital, Canberra.

Australia`s gambling industry generates about A$18bn ($15bn:£10bn) annually.

Campaigners meeting in Sydney say slot or fruit machines lie at the heart of a "social emergency".

Australians are inveterate gamblers and vast amounts of money - more than US$8bn - are poured every year into the “pokies”.

Problem gambling has cost those caught in a spiral of addiction and debt their jobs, homes, marriages and even their lives.

The gambling reform summit has heard repeated calls for the government to do more to protect the vulnerable from the temptations of Australia`s lucrative betting industry.

AUSTRALIA SUMMIT TACKLES PROBLEM GAMBLING

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