It is hard for Kate Seselja to tell her story, but she knows it could help others battling gambling addiction.
Seselja was just a teenager when a boyfriend introduced her to pokies.
She said the machines would go on to ruin her life.
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It is hard for Kate Seselja to tell her story, but she knows it could help others battling gambling addiction. (A Current Affair)
“As an 18-year-old, it was so overwhelming,” she said.
“Because it was everywhere I assumed that it was safe, but it’s not.
“The way that it hijacks your mind and body into thinking the only way out of it is to gamble more is so diabolical.”
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Seselja was just a teenager when a boyfriend introduced her to pokies. (A Current Affair)
Seselja was a new mum when she faced the challenges of battling the addiction.
“The only reason why I’m talking to you today is I couldn’t figure out how to take my life and not harm my child,” she said.
“I was pregnant when I wanted to take my life, that’s how desperate I was.”
Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.
Seselja was a new mum when she faced the challenges of battling the addiction. (A Current Affair)
It has been more than 10 years since Seselja placed her last bet.
“It’s not like alcohol or drugs, you can’t see it on a person, it made it easy to hide it,” she said.
Her life is now dedicated to making up for lost time with her children and to education.
Australians lose $24 billion a year gambling, mostly on pokies and other forms of betting.
The average annual loss per adult is $1635, compared to $809 in the US and $584 in New Zealand.
About 93 per cent of Australia’s 185,000 pokies are outside casinos like in pubs and clubs.
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For Seselja, her addiction led her to use any money she had access to at the time. (A Current Affair)
For Seselja, her addiction led her to use any money she had access to at the time.
“Sometimes my pay would be gone within an hour on pay day,” she said.
“I lost around half a million dollars over a 15-year period.”
Grattan Institute senior associate Kate Griffiths said one-in-three Australians gamble at least once a month.
“If we take lotteries and scratchies out of the picture, which are sort of less harmful products, then it’s more like one in seven Australians,” Griffiths said.
“Australia has really let the gambling industry run wild.
“I mean, Australians have the highest per capita gambling losses in the world.
“We have pokies in all of our streets, they’re more common than post boxes, than ATMs, than public toilets, and it’s our communities who are paying the price here.”
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Grattan Institute senior associate Kate Griffiths said one-in-three Australians gamble at least once a month. (A Current Affair)
NSW government figures show the odds of winning a typical $5000 prize on a $1 poker machine are 9.7 million to one.
Griffiths said with better regulation and consumer protections, suffering was preventable.
Seselja is now a member of GHLEE, the Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts, which has launched a Change.org campaign called Loss Limits Not Lost Lives.
The group is calling on each state and territory to legislate and introduce loss limits on poker machines of $100 per day, $500 per month and $5000 per year.
It means anyone who wants to play the pokies would need to use a card that includes the pre-set loss limits.
The proposal is supported by the Grattan Institute.
“That sort of pre-commitment with loss limits could be really effective at preventing the worst harms and those catastrophic losses,” Griffiths said.
Seselja is calling on the government to put people before profits.
“I put my hand up for help numerous times, and it was woeful, it was absolutely woeful the level of services that were available compared to the level of access to gambling that was available,” she said.
“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
Visit the Loss Limits Not Lost Lives Change.org page for more information about the campaign.
If you need help with problem gambling, call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au for free anonymous support.