The Minns Labor Government has unveiled a AU$1.3m ($930,00) funding increase for GambleAware, aimed at expanding support services for people affected by gambling harm and improving access to assistance across New South Wales.
The additional investment will increase the number of GambleAware service locations from 34 to 49, representing a 44% expansion in coverage. Funding will also support the recruitment of five new peer support workers, bringing the total number employed through the programme to 16.
GambleAware provides free and confidential services for individuals impacted by their own gambling or that of someone close to them. Support includes gambling counselling, financial counselling, peer support and community outreach programmes designed to raise awareness of gambling-related risks.
According to government figures, GambleAware services assisted 4,170 people through more than 19,000 counselling sessions during the 2024-25 financial year. The organisation’s helpline also delivered crisis support to more than 9,500 individuals over the same period.
The funding increase forms part of the government’s broader Responsible Gambling Fund commitment, which rose from AU$19.2m to AU$20.7m for the 2025-26 financial year.
Following a recent tender process, contracts to deliver GambleAware services across 10 regions have been awarded to a range of providers, including Wesley Community Services, Mission Australia, Uniting and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney.
The Government said the expansion aligns with its wider gambling reform agenda, which has included measures such as reducing gaming machine entitlements, lowering cash input limits on new machines, introducing Responsible Gambling Officers in larger venues and banning external gambling signage.
Minister for Gaming and Racing David Harris said the additional funding responds to recommendations from an independent evaluation, which identified opportunities to strengthen community engagement, peer support and operational capacity within the GambleAware network.
The investment in support services comes amid a broader debate about the scale of gambling harm in NSW. State gamblers lost a record AU$9.3bn on poker machines alone in 2025, and a motion is due to be debated at the NSW Labor Annual State Conference in July that would seek to halve the state's 87,000 machines over a decade.
GambleAware’s 24-hour helpline provides free and confidential support, including in-language services for people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
