What is the Welsh Government doing to protect children and young people from gambling harm?
We are working with stakeholders to develop educational resources and educational programmes for children and young people that raise awareness of the harms from gambling.
The new Curriculum for Wales which will be introduced from September 2022, will include a Health and Well-being Area of Learning and Experience which will enhance the curriculum‘s focus on the health and well-being of learners. For the first time, health and well-being will have equal status in law to other important areas of the school curriculum.
The new curriculum provides an opportunity for schools and settings to consider a range of important issues such as problem gambling and its impact on learner’s health and well-being. There is a direct link to gambling within the following mandatory ‘what matters statement’ in the new curriculum: “Our decision-making impacts on our lives and the lives of others.”
The Welsh Government continues to engage with the UK Government on the Review of the Gambling Act 2005 and supports the introduction of a strengthened legislative framework that provides greater protection for children, young people and vulnerable people from gambling related harm. This is particularly important in relation to advertising and in industries such as sport and sponsorship which normalise gambling behaviour.