Advertising just one piece of the gambling reform puzzle

The Australian Government is currently considering its response to the 31 recommendations from the parliamentary inquiry into online gambling harms. 

The recommendation getting the most attention at the moment is a comprehensive ban or potential reduction on gambling advertising. As our research shows there is a link between exposure to betting advertising and riskier gambling behaviour, so it is unsurprising that there is a great deal of public interest in this issue. 

Whatever reforms are announced, they will interact with a raft of other recently introduced harm-reduction measures across Australia. We know that people who gamble at risky levels typically engage in multiple types of gambling, so joined up efforts are important. 

Keeping across this fast-moving regulatory environment can be challenging. So what does that reform landscape currently look like? And what might be coming down the line?

Let’s examine some of the recent actions by both levels of government starting with venue or land-based gambling. 

Reducing pokies access

Regulated by the states and territories, poker machines account for more than half of the total gambling expenditure in Australia – an estimated $25 billion each year across all forms of gambling.

Pokies harms are significant, especially for young adults. We surveyed more than 1,000 people who regularly use poker machines, and found that those aged 18-34 years were at greatest risk of harm. Indeed, 89% fell into the ‘at risk’ category, indicating (for example) they are stressed about their gambling, or lose more than they can afford. 

So what are the states and territories doing to curb pokies harms?

The leading state when it comes to minimising pokies harms is WA – the only Australian jurisdiction to confine poker machines to casinos. Whilst there is further work to be done, the amount of gambling harm experienced in WA is substantially lower than the rest of the country – which research has attributed to reduced pokies availability. 

Others are making moves to reduce access to pokies in pubs, clubs and hotels. The ACT is reducing the number of poker machines by financially incentivising clubs and pubs to surrender them. They aim to reduce their pokies to 3,500 by July 2025 – a target we hope they can achieve and then build on further. 

Three states have reduced the hours pokies are accessible. Last year Victoria jumped on board with NSW and the Northern Territory, announcing poker machine areas in all pubs and clubs to shut daily between 4am and 10am.

Though our research shows a shutdown beginning at midnight would be more effective, it does ensure a much needed break for people who gamble continuously. We hope to see longer shut-down periods implemented in future, and Australia-wide. 

Reducing pokies spend

Requiring people to pre-commit to a pokies spend limit is another harm minimisation measure that is gaining traction across the country. 

New Victorian laws require people to set binding limits on daily poker machine gambling. This loss limit is initially set at $50 per day but allows people to change their limit as they wish.

A similar measure will be rolled out in Tasmania in late 2025, with all poker machine gamblers having to preload money onto cards and set loss limits of up to $100 a day, $500 a month and $5,000 a year, unless they can prove they can afford to lose more. 

Meanwhile NSW is trialling cashless gambling technology across 27 venues, allowing participants to set time and money limits before gambling, and the ACT is testing the market for technology to establish a ‘central monitoring system’ like those in Victoria and NSW, that could allow consistent rollout of harm reduction initiatives across all poker machines. 

Reducing online betting spend

While pokies gambling makes up the majority of the country’s gambling spend, more and more Australians are gambling online – increasing from 13% in 2010 to 30% in 2019.

And we already gamble online at harmful levels. Australians outspend the citizens of every other country on online gambling. In 2022, 44% of Australian adults reported gambling on sports and/or racing in the past year. 

One relatively simple harm-reduction measure is preventing people from using money they don’t have. In June the Australian Government banned credit cards, credit-related products and digital currency for online gambling activities. 

There have also been several recent measures rolled out under the National Consumer Protection Framework (NCPF) for Online Wagering, launched by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments in 2018.

Under the NCPF, last August the Australian Government launched Betstop, the National Self-Exclusion Register for online wagering – providing people the opportunity to self-exclude from betting. As at 31 July 2024 more than 22,000 Australians had active exclusions. 

Other measures include mandating that online wagering providers send bettors meaningful activity statements outlining wins and losses – and replacing the ineffective ‘Gamble Responsibly’ message on wagering advertising with new, evidence-based taglines. 

Protecting young people

Gambling is not just an issue for adults. Children are also gambling online, and in pubs and clubs – despite proof of age being required for admission to gambling areas. Research shows gambling advertising also occurs at times of day when large numbers of children and young people are known to be watching TV.

Our research using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children revealed 16% of Australians aged 16-17 participated in underage gambling in the 12 months prior to the survey. 

Another measure under the NCFP, to reduce harms to young people, all Australians registering for an online wagering account now need to have their age and identity verified by an operator before they can start betting – replacing the previous 72-hour window to perform identity verification. 

There are also growing community concerns about children accessing gambling-like content in computer games. Our research revealed that young people who played simulated gambling games were 40% more likely to spend real money on gambling as young adults. 

To address this, from September the Australian Government will introduce mandatory minimum classifications for computer games containing gambling-like content – following unanimous agreement from the states and territories.

The changes mean that computer games containing in-game purchases linked to elements of chance – such as paid loot boxes – will receive a minimum classification of M, and computer games containing simulated gambling, such as social casino games, will have a minimum classification of R18+. 

So, is all this enough?

While new measures to minimise gambling harms are always welcome and go some of the way, much more work is needed. Gambling can cause serious harms to many aspects of people’s lives, devastating individuals and impacting families, workplaces and communities. Without strong reforms, current levels of gambling harms are unlikely to change.

If that’s the case, where to next?

The recommendations made by the recent parliamentary inquiry provide excellent suggestions for reducing harms arising from online gambling.

While the most obvious is restricting gambling advertising – including the types of advertising that research suggests are most likely to contribute to harm, like direct messages and inducement offers – the other 30 recommendations deserve careful consideration as well. 

Whatever we do to reduce gambling harms – both online and venue-based – regular monitoring will be critical. We need to examine how the gambling industry responds, whether changes are implemented as intended, and how the new measures interact with other harm reduction policies.

We also need to gather quality evidence on whether these programs have real impact on reducing harm – and ensure everything we learn from this robust evaluation process informs future policy and practice.