The University of Sydney has established a dedicated Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research that is tasked with advancing research on gambling behaviour and minimising harm.
This is said to have been made possible courtesy of $600,000 in funding from the International Center for Responsible Gaming, with partnerships alongside “major gambling operators” said to form “an essential aspect” of CoEGR.
This will allow researchers to conduct live trials and test the efficacy of interventions designed to encourage positive behavioural change.
In addition to the aforementioned financial outlay, research will be supported by Entain Australia, a partnership grant from the University of Sydney Brain and Mind Centre and Flutter Entertainment’s Sportsbet, as well as agile funding from the Australian Research Council Life Course Centre.
The multi-disciplinary centre will be led by Professor Sally Gainsbury, a leading expert in gambling psychology research, and will unite a diverse group of researchers from various fields including psychology, economics, business, psychology, and public health.
“This unprecedented collaboration with gambling operators will enable the centre to overcome previous limitations in the field”
“This unprecedented collaboration with gambling operators will enable the centre to overcome previous limitations in the field, paving the way for new and effective research outcomes,” Professor Gainsbury said.
“The operators will share de-identified data on gambling behaviours and allow us to evaluate new interventions, giving us a unique opportunity to create a dataset with a high level of detail on gamblers.”
Adding: “We aim to have a consumer-centric approach to reducing gambling harms. We want to use different ways to approach key problems and consult and learn from individuals who use gambling products as well as stakeholders throughout to develop solutions which will work in the real world.”
The primary objective of CoEGR is to translate its research findings into practical and evidence-informed strategies that can prevent and reduce gambling-related harms.
Further funding will be supplied by the University of Sydney to strengthen research capabilities, in addition to supporting postdoctoral researchers in psychology and economics to enable further in-depth investigations into gambling behaviour and its impact on society.
“…we aim to ensure that our research findings directly inform policy and practice, leading to real-world harm reduction”
“Currently most gamblers do not seek treatment until they have reached a crisis point. We want to improve preventive interventions and encourage positive habit change at early-stages of harms developing using communication strategies and consumer-focused tools,” Gainsbury concluded.
“We are thrilled about the opportunities that the Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research presents thanks to the multi-year funding from the International Centre for Responsible Gaming.
“Through our collaboration with industry operators, policy makers, regulators, community organisations and of course consumers and those with lived experience of gambling harms, as well as leveraging the international experts on our advisory committee, we aim to ensure that our research findings directly inform policy and practice, leading to real-world harm reduction.”
