Think tank calls for gambling loss limits and total ad ban

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The report from the Grattan Institute is the latest warning about gambling harm and has been released as the federal government considers a partial ban on gambling advertising.

Rather than implement a blanket ban proposed by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, the government is considering a number of restrictions, such as banning ads during live sports broadcasts and limiting gambling ads to two per hour during general programming.

The Chief Executive of the Grattan Institute, Aruna Sathanapally, says Australia has too many poker machines.

“What we found in our research is the types of machines you have in Australia, in other countries, they’re usually limited to casinos but we have them throughout our suburbs. Our analysis showed we’ve got more pokies across Australia than ATMs, post offices, public toilets and those losses are really concentrated in our most disadvantaged suburbs.”

Fairfield in Sydney is one example where the Grattan Institute says gambling losses are three times the New South Wales state average.

In Victoria, it nominates Brimbank and Dandenong for leading that state’s losses from the pokies.

It’s calling for a complete advertising ban, a gradual reduction in the number of poker machines and for pre-commitment mechanisms to be made compulsory to help shield problem gamblers from huge losses.

“A maximum daily amount and a maximum daily and yearly amount. We’d say that where the Tasmanian government are looking at $100 per day, $5000 a year is a sensible place to place the maximum and that way you don’t have those catastrophic losses where people lose track of time, lose track of how much they’ve lost and lose far more than they can afford.”

The Wesley Mission in Sydney describes gambling harm as a public health crisis.

Wesley’s CEO and Superintendent is Reverend Stu Cameron.

“There’s no public health issue that gambling harm doesn’t have some causal impact on whether it’s domestic and family violence, suicidal ideation, mental health challenges, homelessness and housing crisis. It just has a myriad of impacts that detrimentally impact Australians of all walks of life and every postcode across our nation.”

On the streets of Melbourne, there was support for Grattan’s proposals.

Person 1: “Doesn’t sound like there’s a single negative. it sounds like it can only help and not hinder.”

Person 2: “I think some limitations, restrictions, age, would be good.”

Person 3: “Any sort of thing to limit an amount would be good if you’re a problem gambler. If they can be known and you can be banned as well. I mean, if it’s taken away from the family, money that is needed for rents or whatever, food, you need that money.”

In a statement to SBS News, a gambling lobby group that represents companies like Sportsbet and bet365 says it opposes more restrictions.

Responsible Wagering Australia CEO Kai Cantwell says the organisation is committed to reducing the exposure of children and vulnerable individuals to gambling advertising while still backing sports and broadcasters that rely on this funding.

“It’s crucial to strike a balance that prevents Australians from turning to illegal offshore providers, which provide no protections to customers and don’t pay taxes and fees that licensed providers are required to pay.”

He says there has been significant progress to improve the safety of the industry over the past decade.

“Including introducing initiatives like BetStop, encouraging deposit limits, banning the use of credit cards, and enforcing strict identity verification measures. Rather than over-regulating the legal market and pushing consumers toward unregulated and unsafe offshore options, governments and industry should prioritise building on these game changing initiatives that help Australians stay in control of their own gambling behaviour.”

The federal government is yet to announce exactly how it will regulate the industry.

The Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland providing this statement to SBS News.

“The Albanese Government takes seriously our responsibility to protect Australians – particularly children and young people – from the harms of online gambling. We are consulting stakeholders on a proposed model that focuses on addressing the connection between wagering and sport, reducing the exposure of children to online wagering advertising, and tackling the saturation of gambling ads. The Albanese Government has been clear the status quo is untenable. We will have more to say in due course.”