An addiction born in sorrow
A STUDY investigating the impacts of problem gambling on local indigenous communities has recommended that Aboriginal health authorities conduct a public health campaign around gambling and develop harm minimisation strategies for indigenous youth.
Janis Koolmatrie, a PhD student from Deakin University’s Institute of Koorie Education and Elder in Residence at the University’s Kitjarra residences for indigenous students, investigated the social impacts of gambling on Victoria’s indigenous communities for her Masters’ thesis.
She found disturbing evidence of the role government policies and procedures and the trauma of the Stolen Generations is playing in gambling addiction in indigenous communities.
“The causes of excessive gambling among indigenous people are quite different to those of non-indigenous people,” Ms Koolmatrie said, listing child suicides, black deaths in custody, lateral violence (a form of bullying within a community) and disconnection from Country.
She believes all these issues have contributed to the deep and unresolved grief and trauma experienced by individuals and indigenous communities as a whole.
“Many of the participants in my Masters’ research talked to me about being stolen as children and the impact this had on their whole lives,” Ms Koolmatrie said.
“Some talked about the sadness and guilt of being the child left behind when siblings and cousins were taken. Others had their children taken from them.
“(The Stolen Generations) was one of the most traumatic things that has ever happened to Aboriginal people and you can understand how they turn to the pokies as a way of escaping and coping with the lifelong disconnection from their famil- ies, culture and language.”
Although the inclusion of recommendations for state and federal authorities in a Masters’ thesis is unusual, Ms Koolmatrie felt strongly that action needed to be taken on the results of her research.
“One of my recommendations was that Aboriginal health authorities need to provide resources to address issues of indigenous gambling under the umbrella of a public health concept,” said Ms Koolmatrie, who also holds a Masters of Public Health from Deakin, a Masters of Education from Adelaide University and is in her 40th year of teaching.
“The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, or ‘NACCHO,’ has done outstanding work in the areas of nicotine, alcohol and nutrition, but now we need similar education campaigns on gambling.”
Ms Koolmatrie also recommended funding for further research into the health and social impacts of gambling within indigenous communities, and that NACCHO advocates for a “national study to explore culturally appropriate, effective intervention models for Aboriginal people with gambling problems”.
“There is a lack of published literature related to indigenous gambling, and population data of Australians’ gambling be- haviours doesn’t take into account sufficient samples of indigenous people to make a reliable assessment of the practices and prevalence of Abor- iginal gambling,” Koolmatrie said.
“However, the limited research that has been undertaken indicates growing concerns related to the impact of gambling within indigenous communities.”
Ms Koolmatrie’s final recommendation that “state and commonwealth governments support Aboriginal community organisations to develop and implement culturally appropriate harm minimisation and gambling awareness programs for Aboriginal youth to address early exposure” has already gained some traction.
In 2017, Geelong’s Wathaurong Co-operative, which worked closely with Ms Koolmatrie during her research, and Barwon Health received funding from the Victorian Gambling Foundation to produce the documentary, Starting the Conversation, which can be viewed on YouTube at bit.ly/2F3AnqY
Filmed in the You Yangs and around Geelong, Starting the Conversation focuses on the impact of excessive gambling and harm minimisation, and draws on the experiences of members of the local Koorie community. Ms