Our average annual losses per adult ($1,635) far exceed the average in similar countries such as the US ($809) and New Zealand ($584) (Figure 1.1). Gambling is big business, and the industry has repeatedly used its political power to thwart efforts to better protect the public. Gambling companies and peak bodies apply pressure to our politicians through every avenue to protect their profits. The group is co-chaired by outspoken Labor backbencher Mike Freelander, who is demanding action on the issue and has called for a conscience vote on reforms to ensure they pass in a timely manner.

Voices for Gambling Reform

A comprehensive report into the growth of the illegal offshore gambling market has revealed that 14 per cent of betting on racing by Australians is occurring with unregulated and illegal overseas-based wagering companies. Predicting results for gambling purposes involves hypothesis testing, evaluating outcomes, casino games and then reformulating hypotheses repeatedly. This strong investment of self partly explains why 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.

State governments give away at least $1.2 billion in pokies tax concessions for clubs230 – more than enough to cover the cost of improving support services. Gambling advertising exposes large numbers of Australians, including children, to a dangerous product,186 and increases losses, with little corresponding economic or social benefit.187 Yet gambling ads are everywhere, implicitly sanctioned by our weak regulations. Gambling donations flow overwhelmingly to the major parties, who are most likely to form government.162 Clubs and hotels with pokies interests are the biggest gambling donors, followed by casinos (Figure 2.2). And gambling donations show a pattern of spiking when the ‘political heat’ rises, on pokies reform in particular (Figure 2.3 and Box 2). The second is that gambling is such a politically powerful industry, with many powerful allies, governments are scared to take them on. Chapter 3 outlines a roadmap to prevent gambling harm, by reducing people’s exposure and rolling out tools that will make gambling safer.

Our other recommendations to reduce gambling exposure and introduce mandatory pre-commitment should significantly reduce gambling harm, and, consequently, demand for help services. But if the review finds that more funding for services and/or research is needed, governments could make up the gap by increasing gambling taxes and closing tax loopholes. Offering a buyback option should reduce pokies numbers while giving the industry some choice in how they manage the impact of the mandatory scheme on their business. Buyback costs could be substantial if lots of machines are non-compliant and venues opt to surrender their licences.

Share BetStop – the National Self-Exclusion Register

• It is unlikely that there would be a major exodus to offshore providers to avoid these minor inconveniences.
• And a flood of advertising, even in the most obviously inappropriate places,6 continually prompts us to gamble.
• The Victorian Government acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Traditional Custodians of the land and acknowledges and pays respect to their Elders, past and present.
• Gambling is one of Australia’s most politically powerful industries, which makes gambling reform high risk politically.
• Visit our support tools page to find out about other services and supports that are available.

New data on gambling in Australia reveals that around 3 million people are engaged in some form of harmful gambling, which is linked to financial stress, family violence and poor mental health. 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. These recommendations would make gambling much safer, but they will take several years to implement.

The social services department is named as the lead agency responsible for more than half of the recommendations, including developing a comprehensive online gambling harm reduction strategy. And disquiet about the proliferation of online gambling harm triggered the 2023 Murphy Inquiry, which made 31 recommendations supported by multi-partisan consensus – a rare feat. The federal government has taken more than 14 months to respond to the inquiry, but leaks last month on the potential response231 sparked protracted debate in the media, parliament, and Labor’s own caucus – showing how widespread the public support for reform is. Preventing gambling harm will reduce the gambling industry’s profits, so governments need to be prepared to stand up to strong vested interest pushback. The industry has a track record of thwarting reforms, including by stoking community fears about unintended consequences.

Mandate pre-commitment with maximum loss limits for online gambling

The Straight is a membership-based digital publication featuring in-depth coverage of the Australian racing, wagering and breeding industries. Get access to the full suite of content and features from Australia’s leading independent thoroughbred industry publication. By subscribing you agree to receive email newsletters and marketing from The Straight which may include third party advertising. Australia’s biggest online bookmaker has received a fine in excess of $300,000 after an email issue saw it fail to deliver mandatory monthly activity statements to over 6000 customers. The report is the most detailed analysis of the black market’s impact on Australian gambling to date. Under Australian law, unregistered overseas operators can not offer gambling services to Australian customers.

In Australia, social restrictions were in place for extended periods during the pandemic, particularly in the two most populous states, Victoria and New South Wales (Chodor & Hameiri, 2023). Due to decreased access, gambling participation and problems declined significantly around the height of COVID-19 restrictions in Australia, increasing again when restrictions began to ease (Biddle, 2022). Our own published research shows that while overall gambling participation rates decreased during COVID-19 (Hodgins & Stevens, 2021; Quinn et al., 2022), by early 2023 participation had nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels (Suomi et al., 2024). We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of country throughout Australia and acknowledge their continuing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to the people, the cultures and the elders past, present and emerging.

Lived experience advocate and former gambler Shayne Rodgers grew up with gambling as part of his life. Donate to support independent, rigorous, and practical policy research in Australia. The history of advertising regulation suggests that Australian sport and broadcasters will adapt (see Box 8). Many video games include gambling-like features that familiarise children with gambling and can be a gateway to other gambling. Loot boxes, in particular, are a common gambling-like feature in electronic games and have been linked to gambling problems (see Box 4).