Problem gambling: A guide for Victorian schools

This guide is a resource for student support service officers, guidance officers, student welfare coordinators and primary welfare officers and teachers and, to some extent, other relevant members of the school community. In broad terms, it seeks to address the information needs within schools around gambling as a health and social issue by providing background to the issue of problematic gambling. It will also provide tools for identifying and responding when gambling is affecting a student (either their own gambling or the gambling of a family member). It is hoped that the guide will also trigger dialogue within school communities on the subject of gambling and its impacts, and lay the foundation for further work within schools on this issue. Although Section 4, which deals with problem gambling in adolescence, is more relevant to secondary school staff, all of the other sections will be equally relevant to staff working at the primary and secondary levels. Introduction