Victorians are copping the blame for their gambling addictions and yet they're only given limited support when they seek help, addiction experts say.
More than $3 billion was lost to pokie machines in the state in the past financial year, a Victorian parliamentary inquiry has been told.
About 75 per cent of people who present to a gambling service also have a mental health issue but those with complex needs are not always being supported.
"We have a very flat structure in the gambling treatment system at the moment - we have a one-step response," Turning Point executive clinical director Dan Lubman told the inquiry.
"In other areas of health, if you haven't responded to a particular level of care there's an ability to refer to a further level of support with more specialisation.
"We do that for diabetes, we do that for heart disease, we do that for depression but we don't do that for gambling."
People often drop off the treatment system because it's left to them to follow up on their referral to services, Turning Point manager Rick Loos said.
"It becomes very difficult for a person who is dealing with lots of issues to navigate systems when they're also experiencing anxiety, trauma, stress and grief," he told the inquiry.
"They've got a coping mechanism which is easy to fall back on to because it's constantly in their face."
The focus on individual responsibility - especially through the "gamble responsibly" message - is unfair and counterproductive to reducing harm, the Alliance for Gambling Reform says.
"It's served the industry's purposes really well to blame the individual," chief executive Carol Bennett told the inquiry.
"We know that a harmful product within a system that encourages and facilitates it to thrive and flourish is going to be a product that is beyond individual responsibility."
The alliance welcomed the Victorian government's recent gaming reforms, which included mandatory venue closure periods and limits on the amount of money a person can put into a gaming machine.
But Ms Bennett said reducing gambling harm was a public health issue.
"We need to move away from stigmatising language," she said.
"It has been the reason many people feel uncomfortable about coming forward and acknowledging they are experiencing gambling harm."
Professor Lubman agreed, saying a more comprehensive and guided approach to treatment would better support people.
"We take a big responsibility in mandating safety measures because we know driving is an inherently risky activity," he said.
"That's the lens we need to take to gambling.
"Australians gamble, it's a risky activity, and we as a community need to make sure we put measures in place to make sure that when people do that, they can do that safely."
