When Parliament returns on Monday, the Senate will debate and vote on Senator Hanson-Young’s referral of gambling advertising to the Senate’s Environment and Communications Reference Committee. 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. It was also recommended that the federal government empower the eSafety Commissioner to issue binding removal, link-deletion, app-removal, and ISP-blocking notices for illegal operators. That would centralise all illegal gambling domains, mirror sites, and related app identifiers in one database managed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. It also highlights the limited legal recourse players had to deal with withheld winnings, frozen accounts of fraud, and shows the increased risk of money laundering and terrorism funding activity.

2 Roll out mandatory pre-commitment with maximum loss limits

Working towards the development of recommendations to improve referral practices for patrons from gaming venues to gambling help services in South Australia (PDF 1.6 MB) Riley, Orlowski, Smith, Battersby & Baigent, November 2016. Responsible Wagering Australia (RWA), which acts on behalf of the gambling industry, has argued the real “wild west” was run by offshore operators who avoided regulation entirely. Mr Kennedy said there was a “unity ticket in this parliament to address gambling harm” and accused Mr Albanese of “holding it back”. 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.

Get Support

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.

Momentum for action building

Governments should call out the industry’s self-interest, and https://princespies.com/ not be tempted to ‘buy off’ vested interests (Box 7). Gambling licences are a privilege granted by governments – they are not a right – and they do not override government responsibility to legislate in the best interests of the Australian people. Taking action across all jurisdictions is likely to be the most effective way to stand up to the vested interests. It makes it harder for the industry to go after individual politicians, parties, or governments, as it has done in the past (see Chapter 2). Recent Royal Commissions, reviews of Australian casinos, and the NSW Crime Commission’s inquiry into money laundering through pokies have collectively sparked outrage around the country.

• Access resources for safer gambling, including tools to identify gambling-related harm, manage habits, and seek support.
• Limiting the sheer number of venues where pokies are present is more important than simply limiting the number of machines.
• Recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows that three in four Australians aged 18 and over had gambled in the past year as of 2022.
• The individualistic approach is promoted by the gambling industry.105 Blaming problems on a small group of ‘aberrant’ individuals absolves the industry of responsibility, and diminishes the case for stronger action by governments.
• However, this significant fall is primarily due to COVID-19 restrictions and nothing more.

It is definitely prudent to ask for the source and nature of any ‘tip’ before placing a bet. When we do this without causing harm to ourselves or others, we call this ‘gambling in moderation’.

Mandatory pre-commitment with maximum loss limits would ensure gamblers no longer lose more than they can afford. The federal government should establish a national pre-commitment system for online gambling, and state governments should roll out state-wide pre-commitment schemes for pokies. The federal government should establish a national mandatory pre-commitment system across all online gambling – including online betting, phone gambling services, online lotteries, and online Keno – with maximum loss limits.