Information sheet for participants
This is yours to keep for reference.
Who is doing the research?
This research project is funded by the Northern Territory Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade through the Community Benefit Fund, which is an independent statutory body responsible for distributing government revenues associated with the collection of a 10% tax on pokies in pubs and casinos in the NT. This research is being conducted by Dr Kim M Caudwell and Dr Mal Flack, who are researchers from the Faculty of Health at Charles Darwin University (CDU), for the NT Government. CDU asked Roy Morgan Research to undertake telephone interviews for this project. Roy Morgan Research carried out the interviews for the 2015 and 2018 surveys and manage the National Drug Strategy Household Survey, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey and are very experienced in conducting interviews for these types of surveys.
What this research is about?
The research updates previous NT studies on gambling (conducted in 2015 and 2018), and will provide the NT Government and other stakeholders with an up-to-date description of gambling participation, problems gambling risk, harms from gambling and service use in the NT. The research involves telephone interviews with around 5,000 adults residing in NT households.
Why me?
People from the NT are approached to participated in the research using a process that generates telephone numbers at random from across the whole of the NT. This is how your household was selected for the study.
We want to make sure our sample represents adults in the NT. To achieve this, we randomly select one person from each household on the basis of their date of birth. This is why we ask to speak to the person aged 18 years or over in your household who had the most recent birthday.
A sample of mobile phones using a list owned by Roy Morgan Research is also being used to improve the quality of the survey sample. The list of mobile phone numbers available for the 2023 survey is larger than the one used for the 2018 survey, which will improve the accuracy and reliability of estimates generated from the survey.
The survey asks questions about health, wellbeing and attitudes towards gambling from everyone, regardless of whether they gamble or not. Participation in the survey is voluntary. This means you can say no.
What will I have to do?
You will be asked a series of questions about gambling participation, problems gambling risk, harms from gambling and service use in the NT.
The interview could take just 5 minutes or it could take up to 20 minutes depending upon your circumstances. Arrangements can be made to do the interview at a time that is convenient for you.
Will the research harm me in any way?
The likelihood of being harmed by participating in this research is minimal. However, some of the questions in the survey may make you reflect on your own gambling behaviour. You can mention this to the person conducting the survey if you feel comfortable doing so, who will then provide you with information on support services.
If you need to talk to someone about gambling after the survey is concluded, counselling information and support for gambling related problems is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week via telephone (free call 1800 858 858) and via an online service (www.gamblinghelponline.org.au).
Crisis counselling information can be obtained by phoning Lifeline on 13 11 14 (free call), and the Domestic Violence Helpline on 1800 737 732 (free call)
Please note that whether you decide to be interviewed or not, this will not affect your current or future access to any service providers.
What happens to my information?
The interview will not be recorded, rather your answers will be recorded using numeric codes. However, 5% of interviews will be monitored for quality purposes. You will be given the opportunity to refuse the monitoring of your interview or not.
The information from your interview will be kept secure and protected by password at Roy Morgan Research and CDU. Roy Morgan store your contact information separate from your survey answers.
The results of the survey will be summarised in a report written for the NT Community Benefit Fund. Research findings, including this report, will be available on the CDU website (cdu.edu.au) and the Northern Territory Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade website. The findings from the research will also be published in academic journal articles, fact sheets, student reports/theses and presented at conferences.
CDU is required to keep the data for at least five years after publishing any findings. However, by comparing the findings with future surveys we can look at how gambling changes over time in the NT. So, the data will prove useful, and be kept securely, for a longer time period.
What if I don’t want to be involved?
Taking part is voluntary. You can stop, skip questions or have your responses deleted at any stage during the interview. If you decide to withdraw during the interview your data will be deleted automatically.
Where can I go if I have concerns?
The research project is being managed by Dr Kim Caudwell of the Faculty of Health at CDU. You can contact Kim about any aspect of this study by calling 08 8946 6243, or via email at kim.caudwell@cdu.edu.au.
This project has been approved by by the Charles Darwin University Human Research Ethics Committee ID number H23052. If you have any questions or concerns that you do not want to direct to the researcher, you are invited to the contact the Charles Darwin University Research Integrity and Ethics team on (08) 8946 6063, on the toll free number, 1800 466 215 or by email,ethics@cdu.edu.au.
The Research Integrity and Ethics team can pass on any concerns to the Charles Darwin University Human Research Ethics Committee (CDU-HREC) and appropriate officers within the University.
Thank you for considering taking part in this research
Dr Kim M Caudwell