Listen to this article
Australia Salvation Army tries a new approach.
The Salvation Army in Australia will participate in trying a new approach to identifying and assisting problem gamblers within the gambling environment.
By sending a uniformed Salvation Army chaplain to visit a Central Coast Club for up to 15 hours a week, Major Paul Moulds, director of social programs, said The Salvation Army will do what it does best—build relationships with people.
“This is all about visibility and proximity,” Moulds said. “The Salvation Army has always been on the front line, in the places where people are struggling and doing it tough.
This initiative will allow The Salvation Army to place a trained person directly in the club environment where we know some people are struggling with all sorts of life issues, including addiction to gambling,” Moulds said. The chaplain will be available to give non-judgmental support, and provide referrals, practical help and intervention to any of the staff or club patrons.”
Moulds clarified that The Salvation Army is fully funding this trial, and that Clubs NSW are supporting it by providing access to the Mingara Club on the Central Coast. He rejected the suggestion that this partnership would restrict The Salvation Army’s ability to speak out against the negative impact of poker machines on communities.
“We are totally committed to support measures that reduce the harm done by poker machines,” he said. “Our addiction treatment services treat hundreds of people each year whose lives have been devastated by the impact of gambling.
This new initiative is one small contribution we can make to test new approaches to assisting people experiencing gambling addiction and secondary issues resulting from their gambling patterns,” Moulds said.
The Salvation Army is committed to offering assistance to people experiencing gambling addiction and working with communities toward providing a better community environment. It will continue to seek new and innovative methods of limiting and removing the negative social implications of problematic gambling.
From salvos.org.au
