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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. Most gamblers’ spending will be unaffected by our proposed maximum limits (Figure 4.4). The federal government should establish a national mandatory pre- commitment system for online gambling, and state governments should implement state-wide mandatory pre-commitment schemes for pokies. This will go a long way to preventing harm from the two most risky and widespread forms of gambling. For those who choose to gamble, mandatory pre-commitment with maximum loss limits would ensure they no longer lose more than they can afford.

2 Gambling is everywhere, addictive, and harmful

• Taking action together is likely to be the most effective way to take on the vested interests.
• While a destination model such as Western Australia’s is a long way off for the rest of the country,193 state governments should actively reduce the number of machines and venues.
• Governments have a responsibility to act in the public interest, even when it is politically challenging.
• Coordinating reform across jurisdictions will make the changes simpler for people to navigate and strengthen governments to withstand vested interest pushback.
• Young people, aged 18 to 24, were nearly twice as likely to be at high risk of harm, compared to other age groups.
• Prohibited ‘interactive gambling services’ include a wide range of gambling activities facilitated by digital platforms, including online casinos, online poker, and live sports betting.

Regulatory changes over the past five years have also contributed to the decline of casinos. “The massive fines, the public inquiries, the theatrical punishments, these were clearly all driven at least in part by the government’s need to “do something”, or more accurately, be perceived by voters as doing something. There’s also the issue of what to do with the thousands of staff, should casinos go bust.

The betting industry runs most of its ads after 7pm — the time when most children are tuning in

But estimates of their community benefits are highly inflated, and their most valuable contributions don’t rely on pokies profits. Providers should also give warning messages to customers as their limit approaches, so it doesn’t come as a shock. Australia should introduce a gambling warning label,201 so that people know when a game contains gambling-like features. This would help gamers of all ages avoid exposure to gambling if they wish, and it may be particularly helpful for parents to reduce their children’s incidental exposure to gambling. Many video games include gambling-like features that https://www.blackcomblodgedirect.com/blog/2025/07/16/online-blackjack-australia-real-money-or-free-at/ 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).

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. Industry lobbyists claim that restricting or banning gambling ads would jeopardise the financial viability of sport, or the free-to-air TV industry. But these industries have adapted to advertising bans in the past, and would do so again.

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. 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.

“Australia is one of the only countries that has poker machines in pubs and clubs in the suburbs. In virtually every other country, if you want to play a poker machine, you have to go to a casino,” he told news.com.au. 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. 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.

This quite literally has nothing at all to do with money laundering by foreign junket players up in the VIP baccarat salons,” he said. “In most countries, casinos are on the outskirts of town,” Thomas explains. “It’s very unusual to find in other countries, a landmark kind of building in the heart of the CBD. And if they’re in danger of failing, you have white elephants that governments feel obliged to bail out and keep going. Even for those who identify as LGBTQI+, we can still be allies for others within the community.

The federal government has responsibility for online gambling but is yet to step up and really own this role. But people still cannot consistently self-exclude from all forms of gambling. Even that is likely an underestimate of losses due to inconsistent reporting by each state, with some reports placing losses as high as $16 billion. According to the study, the limit for low-risk gambling is $240 per person per year for poker machines, and $510 per year for all gambling. Those who exceeded these spending limits were found to have almost five times the risk of experiencing gambling harm.

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