Ronan Cameron
Gambling has been back in the public policy spotlight recently, with the Australian Parliament on 19 August 2026 passing reforms to partially restrict gambling advertising. Public health advocates and politicians, however, have been critical of the proposals. Many believe they omit most of the recommendations from Parliament’s 2023 Murphy report You win some, you lose more, which highlights the need for a multi-pronged approach to tackle gambling harms. It has been suspected by advocates that this compromise is a product of industry influence.
As an intern at the Public Health Association of Australia, I had some awareness of the contentious intersection between industry influence and public health. In 2024, my Honours dissertation evaluated the Healthy Kids Advertising Bill tabled by independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps, which sought to more strongly regulate junk food advertising towards Australian children. Through this research, I became aware of the various self-regulating industry codes, alongside ongoing pressure from industry bodies to block such reform. That bill did not pass despite two introductions to the House.
In the context of gambling, the PHAA’s Policy Position Statements collate evidence which highlights that gambling causes harm to the physical, mental and social health of people in Australia by inducing issues including financial loss, stress, and family conflict. Gambling particularly harms those most at-risk, with a July 2025 report finding that 84% of Australian gambling losses resulted from at-risk behaviours.
However, alongside the widely publicised federal reforms, a bill to ban political donations from gambling entities and close associates has also been proposed for the Australian Capital Territory’s Legislative Assembly. An inquiry into the Bill is expected to report back in October.
In order to gain a deeper insight into the tensions driving gambling in the ACT, especially as someone based in WA, I met Thomas Emerson MLA, the Bill’s mover. An independent lawmaker, Mr Emerson explained the long history of gambling donations towards ACT Labor and Canberra Liberals.
For starters, the ACT has historically seen the highest transfer of gambling losses to political parties – an ABC investigation found $6.5 million donated between 2010 and 2020, with $6.27 million to ACT Labor alone. Political ownership of gambling groups also remains prevalent; between 1994 and 2012, ACT Labor received hundreds of thousands of dollars from poker machines at its Canberra Labor Club. The establishment in 2010 of its property investment group, the 1973 Foundation (and a move seen to help indirectly process gambling revenue) saw funds peak at $1.95m in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, the Canberra Liberals are known to have accepted donations from entities including Responsible Wagering Australia and Clubs ACT. Industry influence in the ACT has also presented in more discreet forms, such as in politicians holding their own meetings in clubs with electronic poker machines.
So why is this interdependence between political parties and gambling groups so strong? Well, we don’t entirely know. But we do know that the power of gambling entities is clearly visible in the Territory. One study found that there were 9.7 electronic gaming machines per 1,000 adults in 2022-23, the second-highest per capita rate in the country behind New South Wales. Meanwhile, gambling is harming one in six Canberrans. \
It is perhaps no wonder that many Canberrans perceive gambling negatively – a 2017 survey found that 70% believed poker machines were harmful, while a 2024 consultation found “significant support” for a total ban on gambling advertising. Mr Emerson believes that these factors make legislative reform all the more important.
Despite this reality, parliamentary records indicate that there has been stagnation in gambling reform in the ACT in recent years. The ACT Government has conducted various initiatives – ranging from consultations on lowering bet limits on poker machines and advertising, to drafting regulations on mandatory overnight gaming room closures – which have been dead ends. Mr Emerson believes that this stagnation is a result of industry influence and a reliance on political donations.
Australia already has a suite of lobbyist legislation to guide transparency, but gambling seems to be the next obvious frontier. There is a precedent to such reform; New South Wales introduced a ban on gambling donations in 2011 and later closed a loophole enabling clubs with gaming machines to be exempt. The ACT’s Bill is closely modelled off its law banning donations from property developers and associates, which has already demonstrated successful enforcement with zero potential property developer donations in the last four years.
Whether this Bill has the power to reduce gambling influence, and in turn the negative impacts of gambling – we are yet to see. If passed though, it will likely offer valuable lessons for future policymaking in the realm of industry influence.
Ronan Cameron completed a PHAA Policy and Advocacy Internship in 2026, and is a Master of Public Health candidate at The University of Western Australia.
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