REPSONSIBLE GAMING
the absence of evidence, how do you make a decision given the pressure to have something in place? I see the greatest strides being made when there’s consultation, even when you’re trying to react quickly. If a broad-based consultation is undertaken, with industry, with experts and research, that goes a long way to give regulators an opportunity to react and respond. The research piece is so important in terms of building an evidence base but we know is an addictive product, so there is an onus of care that needs to be taken. The absence of evidence cannot be an excuse not to take some action. We should get the best available evidence we can and borrow from other disciplines. We can consult, we can test, we can evaluate, but we have to be committed to action, because the onus of care is so important. When you look at the lives and realities of pathological gamblers, very often they will suffer from comorbidity or another addiction disorder as well as depression and anxiety. It’s very simplistic to think that if we take away the gambling the person will be fine. That’s not the reality. It makes sense to look beyond the gambling to a more holistic view. The concept of continuous improvement in RG is, for me, what separates compliance from commitment. Operators are very heavily regulated in most jurisdictions, so the compliance piece is no small thing, but there also needs to be commitment too. I lead an accreditation program called RG C heck that audits operator RG programs which measures all aspects of their performance on RG. Through that process we’re also trying to measure commitment. We have specific things that show that commitment: board level accountability, culture, integration in frontline employees, for example, is RG incorporated into performance reviews? We also look at strategy that moves beyond the minimum requirements for compliance. And then the final aspect is engagement. Obviously that means engaging with regulators, but also players themselves, engaging in research, in continuous improvement and continuous learning, using third party experts and outreach to the broader community to really understand the scope of the issues that are being faced.
When Responsible Gambling is integrated into customer service, you want your players to enjoy the experience, to have fun, to be entertained. Then when you can see they’re experiencing harm and whether it’s problematic addiction or whether it’s just they spent their whole rent check. They’re not necessarily addicted, but they didn’t have a positive experience. If your goal is to provide customer service in those instances, you can expand the concept of problem and harm to cover a whole host of different things. Then I think you’re going to get some really valuable interactions and gain some really valuable tools that that can bring about the right outcomes and success.
The operator perspective
Taina Grech is Responsible Gambling Quality Assurance Manager at Kindred Group based in Malta. She shares what she has seen that works from her experience of numerous jurisdictions Sometimes it can be tough navigating different regulations and different markets but there are some well-regulated local markets. In my experience Denmark deserves its reputation as being best in class. Their regulation gives operator a good
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IMGL MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2024
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