Understanding the relationship between gambling behaviour patterns and access to gambling venues is a complex but crucial task in informing gambling policy.
Dr Bruce Doran, visiting scholar from the Australian National University and a specialist in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), will assist CDU’s School for Social and Policy Research’s gambling team to map this relationship by investigating spatial aspects of Territory gambling.
“Knowing where gamblers come from, when they gamble and where is essential knowledge for policy-makers. The better we can understand this information, the better we can identify the issues that contribute to problem gambling,” Dr Doran said.
This information will be presented in reports, graphs, and three-dimensional maps. While GIS research has been used previously to understand gambling in Canberra and Victoria, applying it to the Territory context will present different challenges.
Project leader, Dr Martin Young said that there were not many urban centres in the Territory, and gambling in remote areas often fell outside mainstream regulation.
“Building information that is Territory-specific, such as this, is essential for policy-makers here,” he said.
“This research will contribute to the project’s goals to understand Indigenous perspectives on gambling, general gambling patterns in the Territory, and how Territory regulation systems compare to other jurisdictions.”
Dr Bruce Doran will hold a public seminar on Friday, 7 December about recent advances and future challenges of spatial investigations of gambling accessibility in Australia.
For further details please visit www.cdu.edu.au/sspr/seminars.html.