The Minns Labor Government has announced a significant, permanent expansion of the funding architecture backing GambleAware, the principal public provider of gambling harm support and clinical counseling networks across New South Wales.
The ongoing financial injection will inject an additional AU$1.3 million annually ($927,000) into the system, directly scaling up front-line assistance channels across regional communities.
Boosting Regional Support Infrastructure
The specialized funding increase will expand GambleAware’s physical presence by a striking 44%, scaling its localized service locations from 34 up to 49 active properties across NSW. The financial resource allows the clinical network to onboard five additional full-time peer support specialists, pushing the total headcount of dedicated peer workers up to 16 staff members.
GambleAware delivers a multi-tiered safety network—encompassing no-cost psychological counseling, professional financial advisory services, localized peer navigation, and a 24-hour crisis helpline. During the 2024-25 reporting window, the public network successfully treated 4,170 individual clients through more than 19,000 face-to-face counseling sessions, while managing over 9,500 incoming emergency calls via its crisis desk.
Following an extensive and highly competitive public procurement tender, the state has awarded three-year service delivery contracts, equipped with a two-year extension option, to six primary regional providers. The certified organizations tasked with managing the ten clinical regions across NSW include Wesley Community Services, Regional Community Care, Armidale CentaCare New England North West, Mission Australia, Uniting, and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
The intervention tracks alongside a broader, systemic gambling reform agenda executed by the Minns administration to compress gaming machine density and enforce strict player protection safeguards. Active policy updates deployed across the state include increasing the central Responsible Gambling Fund up to AU$20.7 million for the 2025–26 cycle, cutting the state gaming machine entitlement cap by over 3,000 machines, and slashing the maximum cash input limit on new electronic gaming hardware down from AU$5,000 to AU$500.
Furthermore, larger properties are now legally required to deploy dedicated responsible gambling officers, maintain standardized incident registers, and remove all cash-dispensing ATMs away from active gaming floors. Venues are similarly barred from showcasing external gambling signage and must enforce a mandatory six-hour hardware shutdown period running daily between 4:00 AM and 10:00 AM, supported by a statewide facial recognition trial to aid self-excluded consumers.
Responding to Independent Clinical Evaluations
David Harris, NSW Minister for Gaming and Racing, stated that the funding acceleration responds straight to independent performance evaluations demanding enhanced support for community engagement:
“The system delivers high-quality, safe, efficient and effective services but identified a need for increased funding in community engagement, peer support and operational costs. That’s why we have responded with a funding boost of $1.3 million for the coming year.”
Dean Dries, a proud Wiradjuri man and active GambleAware peer support worker operating across Northern Sydney and the Central Coast, emphasized that peer-led clinical integration breaks down the isolation often experienced during recovery:
“Recovery is not easy… I want to give back to the community and let them know they’re not alone, there are people who care about them and there is hope.”
