The place of cultural competency in ‘responsible gambling’ practice: challenging notions of informed choice

Abstract

Responsible gambling codes of practice and guidelines exist in most regulated gambling environments around the world, however, the extent to which they acknowledge and engage with concepts of cultural and linguistic diversity is significantly lacking, and in many cases, completely absent. If ‘responsible gambling’ is defined as the provision of safe, socially responsible and supportive gambling environments where the potential for harm is minimised, then acknowledgement and engagement with cultural diversity is critical to ‘responsible gambling’ practice. This paper will relate to the Australian context and analyse the extent to which state and territory responsible gambling codes of practice and legislation engage with concepts of cultural diversity. Cultural competency frameworks and strategies have developed internationally in response to the research evidence suggesting the need for culturally responsive services and practices to improve outcomes for culturally diverse groups in society. Cultural competency frameworks suggest that in order for a ‘system’ to be culturally competent it begins at the systemic level, that is, recognising that culturally competent behaviour and practice needs to have policy objectives, procedural requirements, monitoring mechanisms and resource capacity to be achieved. This paper will present a framework for culturally competent responsible gambling practice in Australia that can be implemented at the systemic level. Without a culturally competent ‘system’ the ability of people from culturally diverse backgrounds to make informed choices with respect to their gambling and to minimise harm from gambling in culturally diverse communities is greatly reduced.