National
Pokies: Labor won’t act …
Mercury:
TASMANIA’S problem gamblers need better protection from the catchy promotions associated with gambling.
A new Tasmanian study has also recommended the need to look at better sentencing options for the growing number of Tasmanians ending up behind bars for a gambling problem.
The Anglicare study entitled Nothing Left To Lose shows that between 2004 and 2009 there were 41 cases of gambling related crime before the Tasmanian Supreme Court.
A total of $6.8 million was stolen in cash or goods with the largest sum being $4.5m and the smallest $539.
The study also shows that half of all people charged had no prior offences with most of them being men – 28 compared with 13 women.
The cost to the Tasmanian taxpayers to keep the offenders in jail was estimated at $3.8m, or $263 per prisoner per day.
http://www.anglicare-tas.org.au/