Category: Gambling
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Behind the thinking of the government response to the Murphy Report
Malcolm Baalman A government ‘Impact Analysis’ document quietly released by the ‘Office of Impact Analysis’ (OIA) a few days ago provides some explanation of the origin of Prime Minister Albanese’s new minimalist approach to gambling reform. The policy statement by the PM last week failed to meet any of the…
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“Radical, or plain common sense?” Public health’s perennial question
Terry Slevin I was recently invited by ABC Radio Adelaide to talk about our policy asks ahead of the March 2026 state election. The invitation followed the release of our association’s South Australian Branch election platform on 13 February. The host of the Mornings programme, Rory McLaren, opened with a…
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We must fight back against gambling giants
We’re calling on the next Australian Government to recognise gambling, and the harm the industry inflicts on people, as a public health issue. Find out more on the Public Health Association of Australia’s 2025 Election Priorities site. This is part of an ongoing series explaining our 2025 Federal Election asks. Read…
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ALP’s gambling policy: Timidity, procrastination, misleading statistics, and abuse
Assoc. Prof Charles Livingstone In an interview on Radio National last week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that Australia’s biggest gambling problem is with poker machines, particularly in his home state of NSW. At least since the Productivity Commission of 1999, this has been abundantly clear. This was seemingly used…
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Gambling is a public health issue, and must be treated like one
Malcolm Baalman Gambling in Australia is a major public health issue. Australians are, per capita, the world’s ‘biggest losers’, with losses of personal disposable income sitting around $25 billion per annum. That’s about $1,500 per adult. And that’s a 2018 estimate – it’s likely this figure has now surpassed the…
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The power of pre-commitment in preventing gambling harm
Associate Professor Charles Livingstone, Monash University Pre-commitment technologies are a part of a suite of measures proposed to tackle gambling harm in Australia. Pre-commitment is a highly effective preventive gambling harm intervention, requiring gamblers to set limits on how much they can spend. Tasmania will introduce a universal pre-commitment system…
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It’s time to put money aside and respond to community need when it comes to gambling harm
Public Health Association of Australia The highly anticipated report from the Government inquiry into online gambling dropped on 28 June 2023, and now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road on whether the Government listens to the commercially driven gambling, sporting, and media lobby groups, or instead responds…
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Parliament debates influence of unhealthy product ads on children
Malcolm Baalman, PHAA Senior Policy and Advocacy Advisor Yesterday, key members of federal Parliament with health experience – including an Assistant Minister – agreed that action is urgently needed to meet community expectations about protecting children from advertising of unhealthy products including junk food, alcohol, and gambling. The debate (p.61 onwards)…
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Momentum building to finally tackle gambling harms
By Tim Costello, Chief Advocate, Alliance for Gambling Reform We are all sick to death of the tsunami of gambling ads that are swamping our screens. It is the most visible sign of Australia’s gambling epidemic. Australians like a punt and I am not against that. The games of two-up…
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The rise of dark advertising: gambling, alcohol, junk food ads bombarding people in Australia
Melanie Parker, PHAA Note: Article updated on 26/01/2023 to correct first table, sixth paragraph, and fourth-last paragraph. After experts voiced concerns about a lack of transparency of social media companies on how people are targeted by unhealthy product advertisers, we decided to investigate how often our own profiles were…
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How dark is ‘dark advertising’? We audited Facebook, Google and other platforms to find out
Nicholas Carah, The University of Queensland; Aimee Brownbill, The University of Queensland; Amy Shields Dobson, Curtin University; Brady Robards, Monash University; Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Kiah Hawker, The University of Queensland; Lauren Hayden, The University of Queensland, and Xue Ying Tan, Queensland University of Technology Once upon a…
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As Netball Australia eyes betting sponsorship, women and girls are at increased risk of gambling harm
Samantha Thomas, Deakin University; Hannah Pitt, Deakin University, and Simone McCarthy, Deakin University Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan said last week she would consider accepting gambling sponsorship to help with Netball Australia’s debts. Gambling sponsorships were “lucrative” for sports, she reasoned, adding netball had to “put itself a little bit…
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So now the real work begins
PHAA CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin I suspect a lot of us will have had a pretty good weekend. The truth is, by any objective analysis a change of government will be good for public health in Australia. Our own scorecard based on the responses of the three major political…
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Advocating for protection against unethical marketing of unhealthy products
PHAA Intern Allyson Todd, University of Sydney The unethical marketing of unhealthy products is an increasing concern within the digital age, from both a public health lens, and a human and child rights perspective. The Australian Government’s National Preventative Health Strategy 2021-2030 recognised the digital and commercial influence of promoting…
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Recently recognised by the Governor-General, gambling harm research and evaluation manager Rosa Billi PSM recounts public health career
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA The PHAA today wraps up our series recognising some of public health’s highest achievers who’ve been awarded Australia Day honours by the Governor-General. Rosa Billi, who leads the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation’s Research and Evaluation Branch was among 60 federal, state, territory and local government employees…
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Levies on unhealthy products reduce disease and heal the budget deficit
Terry Slevin – PHAA CEO As a result of the pandemic that has changed our lives, some are suggesting that an undeniable response from government will be greater investment in public health. Those closer to decision makers within governments are suggesting the costs incurred due to the pandemic will result…
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On Cup eve, young women identified as high-risk group for problem gambling
Jeremy Lasek – PHAA Over the next 24-hours, Australians will gamble more than $200 million on a horse race. Last year, a record $221.6 million was bet on the Melbourne Cup. That’s up more than 17 per cent on the 2019 figure. Research conducted by Deakin University and published in…
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Gambling reform ideas from overseas
Angela Rintoul, Senior Research Fellow, Federation University Australia It’s now well recognised gambling can cause significant harm. However, many countries have done much more to reduce gambling-related harm than we have in Australia. Here’s four examples of how other countries have responded to the challenge of growing gambling-related harm,…
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How well do the future leaders in Western Australia #ThinkPublicHealth?
Kelly Kennington, Hannah Pierce, and Elizabeth Connor The WA election is now days away. Some people, including the WA Opposition Leader, have already accepted the current Government will easily win on Saturday. But we shouldn’t count the votes before they’ve been cast – and we shouldn’t head to the polls…
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Re-opening gambling venues will create serious health risks
State governments are planning to reopen pokie venues due to heavy lobbying by the gambling industry. However, there a number of public health issues which need to be addressed to ensure reopening these venues will not endanger the health of those who use or work there.