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Grants for Gambling Research

The Grants for Gambling Research program aims to encourage gambling research that is independent, academically rigorous and undertaken by researchers from a range of disciplines.

Through the program, the Department of Justice provides grants to universities, research institutes and other relevant organisations for gambling research projects. There have been three rounds of grants to date: Round 1 in 2006, Round 2 in 2007 and Round 3 in 2010.

Grants for Gambling Research 2006 (Round 1)

The pilot round of grants was advertised in June 2006. The theme for this round was accessibility of gambling products. Eight projects were funded through this round of grants:

• Testing the link between accessibility and problem gambling amongst gaming venue staff (Southern Cross University)
• Identifying local area community and gaming industry risk and protective factors that impact upon the prevalence of problem gambling (Turning Point Alcohol and Drug Centre)
• The impact of an audience and venue size on poker machine gambling (Central Queensland University)
• The influence of gaming machine expenditure on crime: Local area evidence in Victoria (University of South Australia)
• The relationship between access to gambling and gambling behaviour in Victoria: A longitudinal study using surveys and community-level data with a focus on problem gambling (University of Melbourne)
• A study of self-control across different culturally and linguistically diverse communities (Victoria University)
• Socio-economic impacts of access to electronic gaming machines in Victoria: Effects on demand and communities (Queensland University of Technology)
• Problem gambling vulnerability: The interaction between access, individual cognitions and group beliefs/preferences (Swinburne University).

Grants for Gambling Research 2007 (Round 2)

The second round of grants was advertised in October 2007. The themes for this round were youth and gambling and emerging technologies. Three projects were funded:

• Factors affecting youth gambling: A comprehensive model of the antecedents and consequences of gambling in younger people (University of Melbourne)
• Australian teens and poker: Gambling prevalence influences and implications (Bond University)
• The impact of high-speed broadband developments and interactive gambling technologies on youth consumption of Internet (online) interactive gambling services and youth consumer well-being (Griffith University).

Grants for Gambling Research 2010 (Round 3)

The third round of grants was advertised in January 2010. The themes for this round were effective treatment and interventions, electronic gaming machines and their effects on recreational and problem gamblers, risk factors and patterns of safe-level gambling, and gambling consumption and behaviour. Four projects were funded though the 2010 grants round:

• Predicting problem gambling: A prospective study of the influence of adolescent risk taking and mental health on gambling during emerging adulthood (University of Melbourne)
• A qualitative investigation of the impacts of socio-cultural factors, lived experiences and popular discourse in conceptualisations of risk amongst Victorian gamblers (Monash University)
• Gamblers tell their stories: An in-depth exploration of lifetime patterns of gambling (Swinburne University)
• A pilot randomised control trial to evaluate the benefits of exposure therapy and cognitive therapy for problem gamblers (Flinders University).