Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Today I rise to speak on the motion put by the member for Goldstein on this very important issue of gambling harm. Australians are the biggest gambling losers in the world. There are other countries that have similarly large gambling cultures and gambling industries, but Australians lose more, on average, than those in those other countries. On a per capita basis, Australians are losing $1,300 per year, for a total of a staggering $25 billion a year. And of course we know that for everyone who doesn't gamble there are others who are losing much more.

We know that gambling can cause significant harm to individuals, families and the community as a whole, and the number of people experiencing gambling harm has doubled in the past nine years. Gambling takes many forms in our community, from lotteries to on-site sports betting to casinos and pokie machines and, in more recent years, online gambling. It is online gambling, available on your smartphone or your computer 24/7, in your school, in your home or in your bedroom at night, that is now causing significantly escalating issues. The rate of harm among online gamblers is three times that among those using the physical gambling product, where you actually have to go out to a venue. It's is for this reason that the Minister for Social Services referred the issue of online gambling harm to the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee, chaired by the member for Dunkley and of which I am a member, and I recognise the member for Curtin here in the chamber, who is also a member of that committee. The terms of reference include current protections and their effectiveness, support and education available, ensuring that protections are modernised and account for changing technologies, the definition of 'gambling service' in the Interactive Gambling Act and whether it should include and capture loot boxes and social casino games and other gambling-like mechanisms that are available to young people and children, the current advertising restrictions and their effectiveness at limiting children's exposure to gambling products and services, and protections against illegal gambling services, including offshore casino websites.

This committee has heard and continues to hear from a variety of stakeholders, including those who identified to us that they are gambling addicts, the families of gambling addicts, and gambling help support services, as well as the gambling industry, the advertising industry, the sports industry and academics who have knowledge of the Australian and international gambling sectors. Some of the stories we have heard are heartbreaking. Many from the public hearings are on the record. People have lost tens of thousands of dollars overnight—literally during a night. People have lost their houses, their redundancy payouts, their marriages, their jobs, their families and, sadly, much more. People have had to change their entire lives to avoid gambling triggers, such as sports stadiums, television, radio and social media.

The Albanese government takes this very seriously. While the report will be handed down later this year—and I am very strongly committed to evidence based decision-making, so I am looking forward to that coming out—I would like to highlight three actions being taken already. The Albanese government is committed to ensuring online gambling takes place within a robust legislative framework with strong consumer protections, including the implementation of the national self-exclusion register BetStop. In the committee inquiry we heard from gamblers about the difficulty they have had trying to self-exclude from hundreds of online gambling sites only to find a new one pop up in their email the next day. BetStop will be the one-stop shop for self-exclusion. It will require licensed phone and internet wagering providers to check whether their consumer has self-excluded before they provide services. They will be required to promote BetStop on their websites, app and all other promotions.

Secondly, while advertising is part of the terms of reference of the committee inquiry, we are acting on previous recommendations. As of 30 March, the previously legally required gambling advertising message of 'Gamble responsibly' has been replaced with alternating messages that focus more on the possibility of losing: 'Chances are you're about to lose' and 'You win some; you lose more.'

Thirdly, Deputy Speaker, you may be alarmed to know that, among the harms of online gambling and the really significant losses the committee is hearing about, 15 to 20 per cent of gamblers are gambling not only with money they cannot afford to lose but actually with money they don't have in the first place. It's for this reason that we will be eliminating gambling with credit cards.

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