Terms & Conditions
By using Gambling Help Online Services or participating in the Gambling Help Online Forums you agree to our Terms and Conditions.
Gambling Help Online
Gambling Help Online is a program operated by Turning Point. Our services are delivered by a team of professional gambling counsellors within a harm minimisation framework. This service is operated from Melbourne, Victoria. For detailed information regarding the Gambling Help Online service, please visit:
Chat Counselling Email Support
Gambling Help Online provides gambling counselling, information and referral free of charge for the benefit of the public. The counselling service is provided for residents of Australia only. We also provide a community forum open to Australian and International users.
Our assessments and counselling are based on the information you choose to share with us. While our counsellors will make every effort to assist you with the issues or problems you identify - you are in the best position to determine how relevant this information is to your situation.
Services provided by Gambling Help Online are not a substitute for independent professional advice from your own or another treating health professional.
Nothing contained in this site is intended to be used as medical advice and is not intended to be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Subject to the consumer guarantees provided for in consumer protection legislation (including the Australian Consumer Law), Turning Point excludes all liability for any loss, damage, claim, cost or expense whatsoever arising out of or in connection with Gambling Help Online.
Gambling Help Online forums
Users of the forum must abide by the standards of language and behaviour as outlined in this page. Forum users must not post any content that is inappropriate, offensive or contrary to any applicable laws or standards.
This includes, without limitation, material which:
- is obscene or indecent, depicts violence, sexual activity or pornography; or contains instructions in crime or drug use; or defames, harasses, menaces, threatens, abuses, offends or embarrasses any person;
- infringes the copyright, moral rights, confidentiality rights or intellectual property rights of any person, for example, by reproducing songs, poems, articles, logos, trademarks, pictures, photos, music or other material that is not owned by you (or which you do not have a license to reproduce on the site);
- infringes any of our rights or the rights of any third person including privacy rights;
- breaches any laws, regulations, standards or codes as enacted, modified or updated from time to time
- impersonates any person or suggests a connection to a group or organisation which is misleading;
- advocates the use of force or violence towards any person;
- encourages, endorses, approves or recommends the performance of dangerous or illegal acts; or
- contains a virus or other code that has harmful or destructive properties.
Community Forum
Your safety
Some people using the Forum will be suffering depression and related conditions. Some will be experiencing suicidal thoughts. For everyone’s health, wellbeing and safety we do not publish comments that express explicitly suicidal thoughts or feelings. If you are feeling unsafe or believe there is any chance that you may be going to harm yourself in any way, please call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Emergency services on 000.
Turning Point will in its discretion, access, monitor and review all content or material which you submit to the Forums.
Turning Point may, at any time, without notice to you, access, filter, remove or refuse to post files, content or other material which it considers in its sole discretion to be in breach of these terms and conditions. Turning Point may also by written notification, terminate your membership and/or suspend your access to the member sections of the Forums if you breach any of these terms and conditions.
You are solely responsible for any content or material which you post or upload on the Forums, or which is posted by another person using your user name or password. Turning Point excludes all liability (to the extent permitted by law) for any loss, damage or expenses suffered by you or claims made against you arising from content or material which you post or upload on the site, or which is posted by another person (whether using your user name or password or otherwise).
Turning Point will take all reasonable steps to ensure the security and confidentiality of material which you post or upload onto the Forums. However, we cannot guarantee against any loss, damage, alteration or misuse of the content or material, and will not be responsible for any harm that you or any other person may suffer in connection with any loss, damage, alteration or misuse of material posted or uploaded onto the Forums.
By submitting content or materials to these Forums, you consent to these terms and conditions and to Turning Point exercising all rights in respect of such content or materials as are set out in these terms and conditions even if the exercise of such rights would, but for this consent, infringe any moral rights that you may have in such content or materials.
Turning Point may impose limits on the size of files uploaded by members into their member journals. Turning Point may also access, filter, remove or refuse to post files which interfere with the technical operations of the Gambling Help Online service, including files which threaten to overload or crash a system.
For details on how we deal with your personal information, please refer to the Eastern Health privacy policy.
These terms and conditions, your use of these Forums and any disputes between you and Turning Point will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Victoria. You are solely responsible for ensuring that your use of the Forums is not prohibited and complies with your local laws.
We may vary any of these terms and conditions at any time by placing a notice on the Forums advising that the terms and conditions have changed and prompting you to agree to the new terms and conditions.
Privacy and security
Gambling Help Online is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), including the Australian Privacy Principles which apply to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. Gambling Help Online is governed by the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), which requires the service to make reasonable steps to limit and prevent online harm. Online harm may include cyber bullying of an Australian person, image-based abuse, illegal material, etc.
Confidentiality
When you are using Gambling Help Online your personal information is kept confidential. We will not share your information with any other organisation without your express permission, except where we are required or permitted to do so under law. This may apply in circumstances where we have a "duty of care"; that is, when you are at serious risk of harming yourself, harming someone else or there is a child protection or elder abuse concern.
Gambling Help Online securely stores de-identified transcripts of counselling sessions. De-identified transcripts and demographic data may be used for clinical purposes or to evaluate the services provided by the Gambling Help Online website.
Queries, concerns and further information
If you have any queries, concerns or require further information relating to the Terms and Conditions of Gambling Help Online, you are invited to submit feedback online.