Safer Gambling Aotearoa

You find Safer Gambling Aotearoa service locations in:

Northland

Auckland

Hamilton

Tauranga

Rotorua

Hawkes Bay

New Plymouth

Palmerston North and Whanganui

Masterton

Porirua / Kapiti

Wellington

Levin

Nelson / Tasman / Marlborough

Christchurch

Invercargill

Kindly note that due to the recent pandemic, most in-person meetings have changed to video-streaming meetings instead, which you can attend by visiting: https://oasis.salvationarmy.org.nz/.

What You Can Expect From Face-to-Face Support

Safer Gambling Aotearoa offers multiple forms of free face-to-face support, including specialized Māori, Pacific, and Asian services. Within these face-to-face support sessions, you get to discuss your personal situation with your counselor.

The average first session lasts between 60 and 90 minutes and you can expect your counselor to ask for background information about who you are and at what point in life you currently are. You may also be asked to fill in a confidential questionnaire so that the counselor can guide you through the process of recovery. All subsequent sessions last about 50 minutes and are totally free of charge as well.

Gambling Addiction Educational Resources

Apart from service centers, Safer Gambling Aotearoa also provides a broad range of gambling addiction educational resources. In these comprehensive guides, the organization explains what the odds of pokies, table games, and other forms of gambling are, how lottery draws work, and what the differences are between gaming versus gambling.

On the Safer Gambling website, you will also find calculators and visualizations of how much you spend per day, week, month, or year on gambling and what that amount of money could have bought you instead.

Safer Gambling Aotearoa also has a gambling quiz available on its website which you can use to see whether your or someone else’s gambling is starting to become a problem. This test takes only 2 minutes of your time, is completely anonymous, and will display the results instantly upon completion.

Gambling Addiction Helpline

If you’re in direct need of gambling addiction counseling, you can call the Gambling Helpline 24/7, even on the weekends and during the holidays at 0800 654 655 or send a text message to 8006. Alternatively, you can send an email to info@gamblinghelpline.co.nz.

Safer Gambling Antearoa has multilingual support staff available to discuss your own gambling problems or those of someone else with. These support staff members can refer you to local Gamblers Anonymous meetings near your location, refer you to your general practitioner, and/or provide ongoing phone support. If preferred, you can choose to stay anonymous during your phone support calls.

Knowing the Signs of Gambling Addiction

On the Safer Gambling website, you will find detailed information about the signs of gambling addiction as well. According to Safer Gambling Aotearoa and HPA Te Hiringa Hauora, the National Health Promotion Agency of New Zealand, these can be summed up as:

Chasing Losses - Are you or the person you’re concerned about trying to win back lost money by gambling even more?

Hiding Gambling - Are you or the person you’re concerned about hiding gambling activities?

Feeling Guilty About Gambling - Do you or the person you’re concerned about feel guilty about gambling?

Losing track of time - Do you or the person you’re concerned about gamble so much that time seems to pass by more quickly than it should?

Spending More on Gambling Than Intended - Do you or the person you’re concerned about spend more than planned or can afford on gambling-related activities?

Gambling Because of Stress or Loneliness - Do you or the person you’re concerned about gamble because of stress, anxiety, and/or loneliness?

Borrowing Money - Do you or the person you’re concerned about borrow money from family, friends, co-workers, or even complete strangers, without telling the real reason why money is borrowed?

Losing Interest in Other Things - Do you or the person you’re concerned about always think about gambling? (Can be both the last and next time).

If you recognize any of these signs, it is best to call the Safer Gambling Helpline as soon as possible to seek help and support.

Real-Life Stories of Gambling Addicts

If you’re unsure what gambling addiction truly looks like and what the impacts of it are, you might want to check out some of the real-life stories of ex-gambling addicts available in video format on the Safer Gambling website.

Gabriel - describes how he misused gambling to escape all the other things he had to do in life.

Katoni -tells how gamblers can reduce gambling without having to completely stop gambling.

Nicole - explains how she grew up in a family with her dad being a notorious gambler.

Shirley - describes how the Safer Gambling Budgeting Services can help problem gamblers.

Posese - tells how his gambling lifestyle impacted the rest of his life and his family in particular.