Julie Lahn

Further Evidence Concerning the Prevalence of Adolescent Gambling and Problem Gambling in Australia: A Study of the ACT

Abstract This paper summarises the results of a cross-sectional study of 926 young people (years 7–12, age 11–19) attending State, independent and Catholic schools in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of gambling and problem gambling among ACT adolescents and to obtain insights into the social context in which gambling was occurring. Survey results showed that 70% of adolescents had gambled in the previous 12 months and 10% at least weekly. Approximately 4% of adolescents could be described as problem gamblers based upon the DSM-IV-J classification with males and young people from indigenous backgrounds found to be more significantly affected. Most adolescent gambling in the ACT was undertaken either privately or conjunction with others (usually parents or peers), suggesting that existing regulatory provisions are working well. However, the paper nonetheless suggests the need for tighter controls over access to lottery products, greater consumer information in schools to educate young people about the risks of gambling, as well as additional ethnographic research to obtain further insights into how young people gain access to gambling opportunities.

Gambling Among Offenders: Results From an Australian Survey

This article outlines the results of a recent Australian survey of gambling, problem gambling, and gambling-related crimes among offenders. The research found that 34% of participant offenders had some form of gambling problem. This figure is 18 times higher than that found in the general population in the same Australian location. Many problem gamblers identified in the survey had not sought help for gambling and felt they didn’t have a problem or were in control of their gambling. In addition, many survey participants said that their gambling was not problematic despite some admissions that they had committed gambling-related crimes. A significant implication of this study follows that offenders with gambling problems need to be offered therapeutic services while in the correctional system to reduce the prevalence of gambling problems and the commission of gambling-related offences.

Poverty, Work and Social Networks: The Role of Social Capital for Aboriginal People in Urban Australian Locales

In this article, I present the key findings from a project entitled “The Social Context of Indigenous Poverty”. The research involved a series of interviews with Aboriginal people in urban SE Australia on issues of poverty, social capital and social exclusion. In the article I draw together Aboriginal perspectives on the meaning of poverty to reflect on the relevance of social capital concepts for understanding Aboriginal economic disadvantage and hence, the merits of policy framed in these terms.

The 1836 Lewis Collection and the Torres Strait Turtle Shell Mask of Kulka: From loss to reengagement

ABSTRACT The fire that engulfed Sydneys Garden Palace building in 1882 also destroyed much of the ethnological collection of the Australian Museum. Among the objects presumed lost were items from the Lewis Collection, obtained in the Torres Strait in 1836. This collection constituted the museums entire holdings from the region at that time and the earliest collection of Torres Strait objects held by any institution. This paper aims to bring renewed focus to the Lewis Collection by drawing attention to several largely forgotten items that had been transferred to Denmark prior to the fire, most notably a large turtle-shell mask currently on display at Copenhagens Nationalmuseet. Expanding on a cryptic observation by Donald Fraser (1978), the argument is presented here that the mask is a surviving object from the Lewis Collection that originated from Aureed Island in central Torres Strait. It is a significant example of a material tradition unique to the region and is imbued with considerable ethnographic and historical importance.