Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023. This bill implements recommendations of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services from November 2021 on the regulation of the use of financial services such as credit cards and digital wallets for online gambling in Australia. The minister, in her second reading speech, advised that, consistent with the inquiry's recommendations, lotteries present a lower risk of gambling harm. This bill does not apply to lotteries, including activities of not-for-profit charities and newsagents.

As stated, the bill will amend the Interactive Gambling Act 2001 to ban the use of credit cards and credit related products for online wagering to create a safer environment for Australians who are at risk of gambling harm. In addressing this bill, I thought it would be worth revisiting some of the points raised in the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs—titled, quite aptly, You win some, you lose more: online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm, dated June 2023. The evidence given during this inquiry is compelling, and it is staggering to learn that Australia has the highest gambling losses per adult, with a total of $25 billion in losses per annum. We advised that Australians outspend the citizens of every other country in online gambling, which is staggering, especially when you consider the harm it is creating in our communities. In the foreword of the report, the committee Chair wrote:

If the status quo of online gambling regulation, including but not limited to advertising, was to continue Australians would continue to lose more—more money, more relationships, more love of sport for the game rather than the odds.

That said, most Australians and indeed my own community believe that gambling is harmful to society and that it is way too easy to gamble in Australia. They worry about the effect it is having on our children and young people.

The standing committee report also stated that: online gambling companies advertise so much in Australia because it works; gambling advertising is grooming children and young people to gamble and encourages riskier behaviour; and the torrent of advertising is inescapable and is manipulating an impressionable and vulnerable audience to gamble online. Given the evidence provided, I agree that online gambling has the potential to cause psychological, health, relationship, legal and financial harm to individuals and their families. Sadly, it has been shown that gambling is a key risk factor for suicide.

In April of this year, the government promised to introduce legislation to ban the use of credit cards for online wagering by the end of the year, and we are delivering on that promise. Australians should not be gambling with money they do not have, nor should children and young people be exposed to gambling through relentless advertising and interactive games that simulate real gambling or include gambling-like features such as 'loot boxes'. Loot boxes are typically an in-game container that masks the contents, which are random. Players spend real currency or in-game currency to receive one of these random items, which can make the player more powerful, more competitive or more appealing. The report by the committee advised:

Loot boxes were found in 58 per cent of the top games in the Google Play Store, in 59 per cent of the top games on the Apple Store and in 36 per cent of the top games on the Steam store.

Games these days act more like a service, with the companies often providing them for free and relying on the loot boxes to create an income stream. What is concerning is that they are encouraging gambling-like behaviour.

A constituent of mine in Pearce advised she had succumbed to this activity when recovering from surgery and subsequent depression, saying games provided an outlet, but soon realised, once the dollars spent started to mount up from this activity, that it was a form of gambling and she had to stop. Her action was to uninstall any game from her devices that included the loot box connection. There would probably not be one smartphone in this building that does not contain apps for games, many of which allow you to purchase additional tokens, extra games and the like. Not everyone will succumb to this temptation to spend up big, but, given the link to gambling, it is of concern.

As we now know, some interactive games share striking similarities with monetised forms of gambling and that the simulation of gambling activities and, in particular, winning can provide the same feelings as activities that are regulated as gambling and carry similar risks of addiction and other negative social, economic and health consequences. So it is absolutely imperative that we act. I am pleased that the government is working with state and territory governments to update the classification rules for online video games to protect children and other vulnerable people in our community from exposure to simulated gambling. It is important to take on board the advice of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, who stated that the categorisation of gambling disorder reflects research suggesting that 'gambling disorder is similar to substance related disorders in clinical expression, brain origin, comorbidity, physiology and treatment. I am also drawn to the comment made by Professor Dan Lubman:

Addiction is not a choice. People experiencing gambling harm want nothing more than to stop. Many do, but only with the right treatment, care and support. We show incredible compassion to those struggling with cancer, heart disease and mental health, yet we typically blame people living with addiction.

We need to remove the stigma attached to gambling addiction and barriers to seeking help.

I note that the government is currently considering the comprehensive recommendations handed down by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in its inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm. The purpose of the bill is to reduce gambling harm experienced by Australians by prohibiting the use of credit cards, credit related products and digital currency as payment methods for interactive wagering services. The bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

It is disturbing to know that the Alliance for Gambling Reform stated to the standing committee that Australians lose the most money to online gambling per capita in the world. This is totally and absolutely unacceptable. Given the havoc that online gambling is creating in our community, I fully support the bill and look forward to further deliberations by the government on other recommendations handed down by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs in its inquiry into online gambling and its impact on those experiencing gambling harm. We have to act in this way. I commend the bill to the House.

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