In parallel to the reforms above, the federal government should investigate the feasibility of a single system for mandatory pre-commitment across all gambling environments. Rather than setting separate limits for pokies, online betting, and other forms of gambling, the ideal would be a single limit across all forms of gambling. The findings reported here underscore the urgent need to protect younger Australians and in particular men, who are at greatest risk of gambling harm.

Gaming machines alone contribute the bulk of these losses at more than $12 billion. Poker machines are Australia’s biggest gambling problem, but a national precommitment scheme would provide a tool for people to manage their gambling. In the absence of national regulation, the Northern Territory has become the de facto national regulator for online wagering. Anything that stops people getting into trouble with gambling will be opposed by the gambling ecosystem, because their best customers are those with the biggest losses. Finally, we need to properly resource research into gambling harm and its prevention.

1.1 A mess of rules that do not prevent harm

Gambling and tipping is as much about the shared cultural activity as it is the money. It is possible to lose money gambling, yet still derive positive self-esteem from the activity. Many of us identify strongly with our perceived skills in forecasting results. Policy makers should be guided by data in choosing the regulated upper limits, and be prepared to withstand industry attempts to loosen the seatbelt by lobbying for higher limits. But estimates of their community benefits are highly inflated, and their most valuable contributions don’t rely on pokies profits.

• The statement said the government had also established mandatory ID checks for online bets, banning the use of credit cards for online betting and introducing tag lines for gambling advertisements.
• 42AHPA, Submission 54, page 2; AGRC, Exposure and impact of sports and race betting advertising in Australia, March 2023, page 1.
• As the Australian government dithers on banning gambling ads, a new global gambling report highlights the immense pain and suffering wrought by the industry.
• A large majority of Australian adults (77%) believe that gambling is too prevalent in Australia.

Chapter 1 – Introduction

This strong investment of self partly explains why https://redriders.net/1-dollar/ we can publicly endorse and encourage an activity in which we know that most, in fact nearly all gamblers lose money overall. The industry exists to financially reward the regulating bodies, the bookies, the industry stakeholders, and a small percentage of professional gamblers. The rest of us enjoy the thoughts of what might be, the social bonds, the behavioural reinforcement schedules, and the ego investment. In Australia, gambling is a socially accepted behaviour, actively encouraged through more than $287 million dollars of advertising spending per year, and a source of more than seven billion dollars of revenue per year for governments.

And of course, we share our expertise/ knowledge with our friends and loved ones. The industry contends that stronger regulation would push gamblers towards illegal gambling websites,259 which lack consumer protection measures.260 But the risk of illegal gambling is small compared with the known harm of the current environment. Regulators should be wary that setting limits on how much people can lose while gambling creates an incentive for the industry to more aggressively try to increase its customer base.

Federal and state governments should brave the vested interests and work together in the interests of all Australians to make gambling a safer, better bet. Pokies and online betting are particularly addictive and harmful, leading to serious harm for hundreds of thousands of Australians. “Australians already lose more to poker machines per capita than any other country in the world, these staggering new loss figures show an industry that is out of control. And these figures don’t even count poker machine losses in our casinos,” said Carol Bennett, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. Many Asian countries also have strict gambling regulations that only allow gambling in casinos. But in Australia, poker machines are found in the majority of pubs and sports clubs.

At CQUniversity we know the value of our connections locally and around the world. Our partnerships help us create opportunities, deliver solutions and change lives. From time to time, we share our Connections Count update where we share our highlights, including research impact stories like the ones above. In particular, results from the EGRL’s NSW Youth Gambling Study informed action, as they showed about 40 per cent of NSW children aged 12 to 17 were playing video games and apps with gambling-related content. She has also been a subject matter expert on the development of the National Self-Exclusion Register, the Commonwealth’s free service for people who want help change their gambling habits.

The AGRC provides high quality, evidence-based publications and resources to increase the capacity and capability of policy-makers, researchers, and professionals working in the gambling sector. BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register™ is a safe and free Australian Government initiative to block yourself from all licensed Australian online and phone gambling providers. A key part of the Alliance’s work is how we work with people who have experienced gambling harm, known as the Voices for Gambling Reform. Please share how gambling advertisements have affected your community and why the government must act now to protect Australians from their harm. Financial stress, family tension, and loneliness drive vulnerable Australians to gamble more, often those already experiencing the greatest hardship. It’s been 845 days since Peta Murphy’s groundbreaking report gave us a roadmap for change.