Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

This is a very exciting private member's bill, and it's going to use technology that exists and the knowledge that gambling apps already have. It would require them to display real-time, user-friendly information, right at the top of the screen of every page on an app, about a customer's net losses and wins.

This could be by displaying a banner at the top of all screens while wagering, showing in red or green the net position of wins and losses since the commencement of this bill, and over the current month and calendar year. This would really show those who are using these apps exactly how much they've lost.

Offences and penalties would be created for online gambling operators who allow customers to gamble without having this information prominently displayed at all times.

It has a six-month lead time to ensure that there's a smooth transition, and an exception to the offence is created for operators who can show they have exercised due diligence to avoid breaching this restriction.

Last year I reached out to Jake Minear. He has been working in technology with mobile phones for 30 years. He proposed this in his submission to the parliamentary inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm that was chaired by the late Peta Murphy MP.

This suggestion aligned well with my private members' bill to ban use of credit for online gambling—and that's been implemented by the government—and to require customers to acknowledge their net win/loss position each time they log on to a gambling website or app, just so that they can pause and think about the losses.

Mr Minear was certain this data, already required to be provided by gambling operators to their customers, could be displayed in a more accessible way, to help gambling consumers make informed choices, and that's what this is about.

With so many gambling apps and websites, and wall-to-wall gambling ads, it has never been easier to gamble away the roof over your head while you're still under your roof.

The online gambling harm report acknowledged:

Australians outspend the citizens of every other country on online gambling. This is wreaking havoc on our communities.

Key recommendations which remain largely unactioned in almost 20 months since its release include:

At that time, we knew that Australians lost over $25 billion in gambling in the 2018-19 year, but since then gambling losses have spiralled to $32 billion in the 2022-23 financial year and online gambling is now the fastest-growing form of gambling in Australia, and yet we are still not addressing advertising. We're still not addressing this harm.

Research conducted in the 12 months to March 2024 by Roy Morgan shows:

The National Consumer Protection Framework for Online Wagering was agreed by the former federal government and states and territories on 26 November 2018 and was updated on 3 May 2022. Since 2022, under this agreement, online gambling operators have been required to share information about net wins and losses to their customers. In reality, this is often just a monthly email and it ends up going into a person's junk folder and the customer has to go and look up the data. They have to actively go looking for that information. What this bill would do if passed is require every app to show in real time exactly what the losses are with a very simple banner at the top of the screen. Technology can do it. It's the will of this place that must change to make it happen.

With Australians losing $32 billion every year in gambling, we must do something. We are doing so very little, and the ones who are affected most are young people, particularly young men. I must say that not only do I call on all members, particularly government members, to support this private member's bill to make this happen. This is only about providing information and transparency. I would also just like to say that I think it's egregious that it was reported that the Prime Minister met to discuss the ban on gambling ads late last year with Network 10, the Seven Network, the Nine Network, the AFL and the NRL chairman and CEO. What I don't know and what hasn't been reported is whether the Prime Minister also met with the families who are experiencing gambling harm, the parents of the children who have committed suicide because of gambling. They are young adults, often men. I don't know whether the Prime Minister has met with Tim Costello or the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Financial Counselling Australia, Relationships Australia or gambling harm experts with lived experience.

Are we not going to do anything in this place in this term to address gambling advertising or do anything meaningful on the late Peta Murphy's work? She gave 20 months of her life to that report, and for what? We have done nothing in this place. The least we could do is require these gambling apps to have at the very front of every page how much a person is losing. Hopefully before many young men take their lives or families break down they can see that they need to change and access help. I would like to cede the rest of my time to the honourable member for Clark, who is seconding this bill.

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