Bendigo Family and Financial Services will use a $50,000 state government grant to research the use of video games that include ‘loot boxes’: randomised rewards or game content that players can often purchase with actual money.

The funding will also support education and information sessions for job providers and people looking for work, with a focus on people aged under 25 receiving the Newstart job seeker or Youth Allowance payment.

“We’re really excited to be able to do this,” Bendigo Family and Financial Services general manager Jenny Elvey said.

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Ms Elvey said workers had discovered while delivering financial counselling that a lot of young people had charges on their bank statements deriving from loot boxes and were not aware of just how much they were spending.

Loot boxes are not formally classified as gambling in Australia, but it has been announced that a Senate committee will examine the extent to which the gaming feature is harmful, including whether it does constitute a form of gambling.

A paper by two psychology experts published last month revealed the loot boxes in almost half of 22 games analysed had structural and psychological similarities to gambling.

Ms Elvey said loot boxes could cost as little as $1, but when people played these games for hours at a time, the money added up.

For some people, she said, the money spent on these games could be the money they needed for food or transport.

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Ms Elvey said the games were easily accessible, being available on smartphones, tablets and computers, and were often advertised online through media such as Facebook.

“It’s in your face all the time,” she said.

A lot of people affected were socially isolated and disconnected from the community, Ms Elvey said, and for those who were unemployed, these games could help fill the day.

Ms Elvey said Bendigo Family and Financial Services would develop a paper after 12 months, which would help inform solutions to issues presented by this gaming feature.

While the project has a particular focus on young people, she said people of all ages would be considered because older people were also affected.

Bendigo Family and Financial Services was one of five organisations in regional Victoria to receive a grant to address and prevent harm caused by gambling, with a particular focus on young people, Aboriginal communities, and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.