Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and I acknowledge her interest in this matter—as, I'm sure, all members of this place are concerned about the harms that occur when it comes to wagering in certain contexts. Of course, we understand, given the high level of community concern here and the fact that Australians lose some $25 billion every year in response to gambling, that this is an area in which improvements need to be made. That's why I commend the member for her work on that committee, and all members of this place who worked on the committee report.

There are three things I'll say to the member. The first is that this report sets out some 30 recommendations, many of which go to the interaction between Commonwealth and state governments and their regulatory arrangements. We're working carefully through those, with the states, and I'm doing that in conjunction with a number of other ministers, including the Minister for Social Services. It is a complex area in that respect. It's complex because there are certain regulatory arrangements that the states obviously have a keen interest in. It's also one where of course the Commonwealth wants to ensure that we have the most robust response when it comes to dealing with wagering harms.

The second point is, given the high level of gambling harms with both economic and social consequence, we need changes that go not only to regulation and to law but also to cultural change. The way we are seeking to achieve that is threefold. The first is breaking the nexus between sport and wagering. Second, it's concentrating on the exposure of children to gambling harms. Third, it's addressing the saturation of ads, particularly as they are targeted towards young men aged around 18 to 35.

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