It’s Gambling Harm Awareness Week, and the Problem Gambling Foundation is sounding the alarm about gambling crossing over into online gaming.
It’s Gambling Harm Awareness Week, and the Problem Gambling Foundation is sounding the alarm about gambling crossing over into online gaming.
Spokesperson Andree Froude says that could lead to an explosion in online gambling if the government doesn’t take action.
She says there is increasing concern worldwide about pseudo-gambling techniques being incorporated into games to attract more young people.
“Others are looking at ways they can put warnings on the games, or make them restricted to young people aged over 18. So it’s a really complicated area – and unregulated as such in this country,” she says.
Ms Froude says Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities on low incomes are already disproportionately affected by harmful gambling – but the problem could grow worse if allowed to grow unchecked.