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. The AFL Grand Final should be a celebration of footy, not a billboard for the gambling industry – fuelling real damage to our communities. Every dollar donated helps ramp up the pressure to finally ban gambling ads for good. 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. A universal system may need to be administered by a national agency (as it is in Germany and Norway) to keep track of people’s nominated limits and spending across providers. Cashless gaming is currently a major focus for NSW, and is an important part of tackling money laundering via pokies,211 but is not an essential pre-cursor for mandatory pre-commitment.
- Pre-commitment for pokies would be a small, one-off hassle – like signing up for a library card or public transport card.255 For online gamblers, who must already prove their identity to create an account,256 it should add little to the sign-up process.
- Federal rules around lobbying and political donations are weak,180 enabling those with motivation and resources to have more say – and sway – over public policy than they should.
- But if they did, they would imply that some Australians must suffer immense harm so that others can pay a little less for sport, or punt a little more seamlessly.
- That would go a long way to reducing Australians’ excessive exposure to gambling.
- Governments should also improve support services to help those suffering harm now.
- Governments have a responsibility to act in the public interest, even when it is politically challenging.
Applying for an interactive gambling licence
Many past attempts to strengthen consumer protections for gambling have been thwarted by vested interests, so gambling reform is now considered very politically risky. Showed how effective the gambling industry is in influencing Australian politics, punching well above its weight. Organised attempts to influence policy can create windfall gains for a few, at the expense of the many. We also need a ‘seatbelt’ for the most dangerous gambling products, to stop catastrophic losses when people lose control. Australia must get serious about preventing gambling harm and implement a package of reforms to make gambling less pervasive and safer.
But that shouldn’t mean delaying state-based reform efforts, or waiting for laggards. If some jurisdictions fail to step up, others should push ahead without them. These recommendations would make gambling much safer, but they will take several years to implement.
Meanwhile, online betting has surged, particularly among young men, spurred by a barrage of gambling advertising. But if they did, they would imply that some Australians must suffer immense harm so that others can pay a little less for sport, or punt a little more seamlessly. Governments should call out the industry’s self-interest, and not be tempted to ‘buy off’ vested uptown pokies $50 no deposit bonus interests (Box 7).
Gaming machine operators
These products are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work as long as you attribute the authors. To attribute this work cite Queensland Government Statistician’s Office, Queensland Treasury, Australian gambling statistics, 40th edition. Australian gambling statistics is a comprehensive set of statistics related to gambling in Australia, covering the entire range of legalised Australian gambling products.
And in NSW – the state with almost as many pokies as the rest of the country combined – the most recent state election was fought at least in part on pokies reforms. While the policies being debated were more focused on money laundering risks than gambling harm, both major parties brought policies to the table. 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.
You can nominate someone you know to support you while you are self-excluded. You can also access information about other gambling supports that are available. The Alliance for Gambling Reform acknowledges we are living and working on Aboriginal land.
For gambling providers
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. Our other recommendations to reduce gambling exposure and introduce mandatory pre-commitment should significantly reduce gambling harm, and, consequently, demand for help services.
If Australian governments are serious about preventing gambling harm, they will need to bolster their efforts and take action to both reduce the pervasiveness of gambling in Australia and make gambling safer. 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).
Past reform efforts have been killed by highly organised, well-funded industry campaigns. 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). Governments should also improve support services to help those suffering harm now. To find out how to apply for an interactive gambling key person licence, as part of a licence application, contact OLGR. Find information on upcoming VGCCC hearings, including gaming machine applications, disciplinary actions, and casino exclusion appeals.
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