KEY POINTS:
The drop in gambling activity after New Zealand introduced the smoking ban has proved to be temporary, the Gambling Helpline says.
It has reported a 10 per cent rise in the number of new clients in 2007, and its total client base, including new and existing clients, increased
by 13 per cent during the year.
Chief executive Krista Ferguson said the smoking ban introduced in 2004 was credited with reducing the number of people who gambled, and the number dropped steadily each year.
However, the trend began to reverse last year, and Ms Ferguson said the increase in people seeking help for a gambling problem shows there is no room for complacency.
"At the time [of the ban] people were saying it was proof that gambling was disappearing and that casinos' host responsibility was making such a big difference, but three years on we're seeing it increase again."
She said the Australian state of Victoria saw a similar drop in gambling activity after the implementation of a smoking ban, but smokers soon got used to it and after a while gambling activity was back up.
However, she credited an advertising campaign on gambling harm undertaken by the Government and the Gambling Helpline last year for raising awareness of the issue.
"There is a huge amount of advertising by the gambling industry. People see lots of adverts for gambling and it's only recently they've seen that balanced by adverts saying that it can do you a lot of harm."
Ms Ferguson said the adverts themselves sadly weren't unrealistic.
"When people contact us it's usually when things have gone really pear-shaped. They might have lost the house because they have got into so much debt and kept remortgaging, their partner is threatening to leave, they've run out of money, can't afford to put food on the table or they're severely depressed."
She said there are now 20,000 gambling machines in New Zealand, compared with 25,000 five years ago, but that hadn't translated into a shrinking addiction problem.
"Gambling losses are going up."
Ms Ferguson said it would require a law change and significant community support for harm from gambling to begin to recede in New Zealand.
She said the law requires gambling outlets not just to identify actual and potential problem gamblers, but to actively address the problem as well. But even excluding a gambler from the premises wasn't always carried out.
"We have clients who find it really difficult to get exclusion even if they've asked for it, and often either it isn't given or isn't enforced.
"The industry is trying, but there's a lot more that needs to be done."
