Hi, giving someone else control over money when you have a gambling issue is one of the strategies that are used. I understand your concerns regarding the transfer of his funds in your account and you are correct that if it accrues interest, you will need to declare this with the ato. Alternatives are: accompany your friend to his bank and have a chat regarding how his bank can restrict money being used for gambling or get your friend to give you all of his cards, internet banking access (you change the password), set up automatic deductions for payments and provide him with a no cash card (gift card even) for general daily purchases. It is important that your friend seeks some professional help for his gambling. Just restricting access to money does not address the underlying issues which led him to gamble. You can even accompany him for support if needed. He could consider barring himself from venues and online gambling sites. You can get betfilter
www.betfilter.com on phones which blocks access to all sites. Venue barring is easy, he just needs to select all venues within say a 200km radius and request that he is barred simply by going to one venue and they will do it for him. You're friend really needs to you to support him through this process, focus on his achievements, if he relapses, it's OK, this is NORMAL when someone is going up the road of recovery. Also, use this forum, we have all been on this journey and are here to help.
People like you, who still have an open heart and a kind word and offer tangible support are incredibly rare.
