All gambling advertising should be banned to help stop Canberra men and boys from taking their own lives, an inquiry says.
An ACT Legislative Assembly committee inquiry into male suicide heard gambling increases the risk of suicide, and that young men are particularly vulnerable.
The Hellenic Club of Canberra was fined $1.2 million after habitual poker machine player Raimo "Ray" Kasurinen died by suicide in 2020.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for Canberrans aged 13 to 17. A review into eight deaths between 2017 to 2019 found slightly more males died than females.
It is not clear from research whether men are more likely to die by suicide because they are more intentional or because they use more deadly methods.
The inquiry said the ACT government had failed to prioritise suicide prevention despite having a strategy.
It recommended the government establish a men and boys wellbeing strategy, an ACT local drug action team, consider recording suicidality factors in the digital health record, better fund the coroner's court and address a "missing middle" gap in mental health support.
While suicide is complex and specific to each person who dies, men are generally less likely to seek help or be satisfied when they do, and many who take their own life do so impulsively or in the immediate aftermath of a distressing situation - such as a relationship breakdown or job loss.
Men's mental health researcher Michael Wilson told the inquiry that gambling "significantly elevates risk of suicide in men" and agreed that banning gambling advertising could help reduce risk.
"To an extent, individual-level interventions will only go so far, when there are commercial, more systemic, higher-level forces driving the exact problems that people are experiencing," Mr Wilson said.
"We need to support people with individual gambling problems and emotional problems, and suicide risk associated with that, while also targeting the higher level, commercial, systemic factors.
"What that looks like is reducing advertising and deconstructing the extent to which gambling, sports viewing, alcohol use and all these factors are normalised in young men."
Peer member at Canberra After Suicide Support Murray O'Hanlon urged all governments to limit access and online and television gambling advertising.
"Gambling can provide temporary relief for emotional distress but exacerbates feelings of guilt, shame and purposelessness, and this results in a loss of face and severe financial and family distress, and in some cases suicide," Mr O'Hanlon said.
Problem gambling is associated with other suicide risk factors in men, such as harmful levels of drinking, depression, financial stress and shame.
Mr O'Hanlon noted that boys and men needed better emotional skills and support to navigate difficult life events that most people experience.
"We have observed that men seem to find [stressful life transitions] overwhelmingly distressing, including in relationship breakdowns, legal troubles-running into the law and transitioning out of defence and back into civilian life.
"What are we doing to equip boys, teenagers and men to anticipate what those huge challenges will be in life and know that they can get support, and know that they can make it through those?"
Lifeline Australia chief researcher Anna Brooks said "advertising plays a role" in increasing the likelihood someone will gamble. Dr Brooks said that financial distress after a loss not just about worrying about money, but lacking control and agency.
Online gambling advertising is a federal responsibility, while states and territories regulate offline gambling like poker machines, casinos and lotteries. A 2023 federal committee recommended an absolute online gambling ad ban.
A 2024 ACT listening report found strong community support for a broad gambling advertising ban.
In May, Gaming Minister Marisa Paterson said the ACT was strengthening the gambling self-exclusion scheme, reducing the number of poker machines, introducing mandatory cashless gaming in venues and had established a working group including anti-gambling advocates and clubs.
Dr Brooks said impulsivity was a factor increasing the likelihood of suicide, meaning that stressful life events can quickly escalate into suicidal thinking.
"Impulsivity is also a factor that is common in terms of problem gambling behaviours. That impulsivity that is often a factor for gambling can be a contributing risk to the likelihood of death by suicide as well. It is a complex landscape," she said.
One in four male suicides occur after a relationship breakdown. Mr Wilson said the highest period of risk was immediately after a separation.
First Nations people and those in the LGBTQIA+ community are far more likely to take their own lives.
The inquiry heard that in addition to risk factors like discrimination, racism and social isolation, relationship breakdowns are a common concern for people in those communities seeking help for suicidal thoughts.
Mr Wilson said during his research on how young queer men navigate relationship breakdowns, "in many ways the narratives that they report align pretty neatly with exactly how you would expect a stereotypically masculine man to respond".
The ACT government is expected to respond to the report later in the year.
