Larry Saha Room, #2175, Haydon-Allen Building, ANU.  Presented by Dr Tanya Davidson & Associate Professor Jonathan Mond, Centre for Gambling Research, School of Sociology, ANU.

People tend not to get help for gambling problems until they are experiencing extreme difficulties.  Qualitative research has highlighted the role of stigma as a barrier to help-seeking.  Community attitudes and beliefs, for example, beliefs about the likely helpfulness of different resources and interventions, may also influence the likelihood that appropriate treatment is sought and accessed.  However, research has not previously investigated public beliefs about gambling problems and very little is known about what people think about available resources. This presentation discusses findings relating to help-seeking for problem gambling from two general population surveys, the 2009 ACT Survey on Gambling Health and Wellbeing, and the 2011 ANUPoll covering public opinion on gambling in Australia. The former survey allows us to describe levels and predictors of help-seeking behaviour amongst people with gambling problems, whereas the latter survey provides insight into knowledge and beliefs about gambling problems and interventions in the community.