CDU endorsed as a leading voice in gambling research 

 
 

Charles Darwin University has been recognised as a leading national voice in gambling research, with the Northern Territory Government announcing a re-commitment of $1.4 million in funding over three years.

The funding will allow the School for Social and Policy Research, which conducts the research, to delve into new areas of gambling study which will inform the development of sound gambling policy and regulation in the Northern Territory.

In welcoming the funding, Vice-Chancellor of Charles Darwin University, Professor Helen Garnett said: “This announcement recognises the excellence and relevance of the research being undertaken at Charles Darwin University, a university which has again been recognised as a leading Australian university for research intensiveness. Knowledge of gambling patterns in the Territory will have a significant impact on the development of policy in the future.”

The project will comprise a series of related projects which will research Indigenous perspectives on gambling, general gambling patterns in the Territory population, and regulation systems in the Territory compared with other jurisdictions.

Project leader, Dr Martin Young said he believed that knowledge of gambling prevalence and behaviour was essential for good government planning.

“In order to make positive gambling regulations and policy, we must understand gambling in the Northern Territory and the effects it has on individuals, families and communities. The three-year funding means we can undertake an integrated and sustained investigation of what is a complex social issue,” Dr Young said.

This funding also builds on the reputation of the School for Social and Policy Research. Having begun as a separate school only four years ago, its impact on government and non-government policy has been significant, not just in gambling, but in other areas such as education and social welfare.

“We are excited to build on the work of the 2005 gambling prevalence survey, to identify, for the first time, gambling behaviour of people from remote Top End communities,” Dr Young said.

This  research project will begin in September and finish in 2010.

For more information, go to the School for Social and Policy Research website, www.cdu.edu.au/sspr.