Who do you call first if you need to talk?
Gambling Help Online is the national service for anyone affected by gambling in Australia, whether you are the person playing or someone close to them. The phone line on 1800 858 858 is open 24 hours a day, every day, and the call is free and anonymous. The same service offers webchat and email support at gamblinghelponline.org.au if a phone call is not what you need. Counsellors are trained specifically in gambling related concerns and the call is not recorded against your name unless you choose to identify yourself.
For urgent mental health support that is not specifically about gambling, Lifeline on 13 11 14 is available around the clock. Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 covers depression and anxiety. The Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 is staffed by professionals trained in crisis support. Any of these are appropriate first calls when the situation has moved beyond gambling alone, and all of them are free, confidential and immediate. None of these will be shared with us and none of them appear on your bill.
What state and territory services exist?
Each Australian state and territory runs its own gambling help service alongside the national line. New South Wales has GambleAware on 1800 858 858. Victoria has Gambler's Help, also reachable on 1800 858 858 with regional offices listed at gamblershelp.com.au. Queensland has Gambling Help Queensland on the same national number. Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory each route through the national line with local counsellors handling the call.
Face to face counselling is available through most state services free of charge. Sessions are typically weekly, last around an hour and are run by a counsellor who specialises in gambling. The same services usually offer financial counselling alongside the gambling counselling, which is useful if debts have built up alongside the difficulty. The first appointment is usually available within a week and you can attend on your own or with a partner or family member, whichever feels right.
What tools do we offer inside the account?
Inside your Slots of Vegas account we offer deposit limits per day, week or month; loss limits per day, week or month; wager limits per day, week or month; session time limits; reality check reminders at 15, 30 or 60 minute intervals; cool off periods of 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days; and full self exclusion from 6 months up to 5 years. Reductions take effect immediately. Increases are subject to a 24 hour cooling off window before they activate, which gives the change a moment to breathe.
The Safer Gambling page inside Account holds all of these tools in one place. The Responsible Gambling page on this site walks through what each tool does and how to choose the right one for your situation. The Close Account page covers the longer pauses and the permanent closure option in full detail.
How do you help a friend or family member?
If someone close to you is struggling with gambling, the most useful first step is usually to listen without judgement. The shame and secrecy that surround problem gambling are often the biggest barriers to getting help, and a calm conversation that focuses on the person rather than the behaviour can open the door. Practical steps come second: looking up the local Gambling Help service together, helping to set up bank blocks, supporting a self exclusion request and being available without trying to fix everything in a single conversation.
Gambling Help Online offers a dedicated track for family members and friends, including a 1800 858 858 phone line that you can call as a third party. The advice is concrete and the counsellors are trained to work with the people around the gambler as well as the gambler themselves. Financial counsellors at the National Debt Helpline on 1800 007 007 can also help work through any debts that have built up, separately from the gambling counselling itself.
Can you block gambling at the device or bank level?
Yes, and we encourage every player who has struggled to stay away to use these alongside our own tools. Most Australian banks now offer a gambling block on debit and credit cards that can be turned on inside the mobile app and which prevents card transactions to gambling merchants. The Commonwealth Bank, NAB, ANZ, Westpac, Bendigo and ING all support it. Once turned on, the block typically requires a 48 hour cool off period before it can be removed, which gives the urge time to pass.
Device level blocks work through software you install on your phone or computer. On iOS, Screen Time can restrict adult and gambling content with a parental control passcode held by someone you trust. On Android, parental control apps such as Family Zone, Qustodio and Net Nanny offer the same. On Windows and macOS, Cold Turkey Blocker is a powerful tool that runs at the operating system level and is genuinely hard to bypass. Combined with bank blocks and a self exclusion at our end, the protection is as strong as it gets.
What about long term recovery support?
Gamblers Anonymous (gamblersanonymous.org.au) runs free peer support meetings in most Australian capital cities and many regional centres. Meetings are anonymous, free to attend and run on a 12 step framework. The sister organisation Gam-Anon supports family and friends with the same structure. Both meet weekly and welcome new members at any meeting without notice. The website lists every Australian meeting with the time and location.
Online communities and forums can supplement professional support but should not replace it. The Gambling Help Online forum is moderated by trained staff. Reddit communities such as r/problemgambling are unmoderated by professionals but offer peer support at any hour. Treat anonymous online advice with appropriate scepticism and check anything important with a counsellor or your GP before acting on it.
Reaching us with a safer gambling concern
If you would prefer to start the conversation with us, the safer gambling inbox at safe@slotsofvegas.live is monitored by trained staff during normal business hours and the responses are confidential. We will never use a help related contact as a marketing trigger and the conversation does not sit alongside the standard support history that other agents can see. We would rather you reached out early than waited.
The live chat link in the footer of any page on this site is also a valid route. Ask for the safer gambling team and the agent will route the conversation appropriately. We treat any safer gambling enquiry as a priority and we follow up after any heavier action like a long self exclusion or a closure to make sure the choice still feels like the right one a few weeks later.
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