tag:theconversation.com,2011:/nz/topics/gambling-reform-693/articlesGambling reform – The Conversation2024-03-22T12:31:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2260922024-03-22T12:31:14Z2024-03-22T12:31:14ZWhy March Madness is a special time of year for state budgets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582647/original/file-20240318-24-4tudw6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=6%2C6%2C4390%2C3045&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feeling lucky?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SportsBetting-ThingstoKnow/d07b68af393548588b8a646d5cdd79e9/photo?Query=sports%20betting&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=1985&currentItemNo=2">Wayne Parry/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>March Madness – the time when the <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/watch?cid=ncaa_mml_nav_men">best men’s</a> and <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/womens-di-championship?mml=1&cid=ncaa_mml_nav_women">women’s college</a> basketball teams challenge each other – is a made-for-television spectacle <a href="https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2023/04/ncaa-national-championship-ratings-record-low-uconn-sdsu-cbs-mens/">watched by millions</a>. While <a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-08/march-madness-history-comprehensive-guide-mens-tournament">March Madness has been around for decades</a>, one of the tournament’s biggest changes happened in 2018, when the <a href="https://www.archerlaw.com/en/news-resources/client-advisories/landmark-u-s-supreme-court-decision-paves-the-way-for-legalized-sports-betting">Supreme Court struck down the ban on sports betting</a>. </p>
<p>Since then, legal sports betting has skyrocketed. Americans <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/resources/aga-commercial-gaming-revenue-tracker/">made US$120 billion of legal sports bets</a> in 2023, according to the American Gaming Association, which promotes gambling. In 2024, <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39730969/estimate-projects-272b-wagers-ncaa-basketball-tournaments">the group predicts</a> Americans will place <a href="https://www.vox.com/2024/3/18/24102300/march-madness-sports-betting">$2.7 billion of legal bets</a> on March Madness alone.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/profile/jay-zagorsky/">I am</a> a <a href="https://www.bu.edu/questrom/">business school</a> professor fascinated by <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-march-madness-and-the-nonprofit-that-manages-the-mayhem-93202">March Madness</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/market-for-illegal-sports-betting-in-us-is-not-really-a-150-billion-business-96618">sports betting</a>. Studying sports betting has shown me <a href="https://theconversation.com/could-gambling-be-the-secret-to-saving-when-rates-are-so-low-57961">how valuable it is</a> for states short on cash. Unfortunately, it also has significant drawbacks, especially for <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/help-by-state/">gambling addicts</a> and their families. </p>
<h2>Why lawmakers love sports betting</h2>
<p>As of March 2024, <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/research/state-gaming-map/">38 states allow</a> some form of sports gambling, and six more are debating the issue. State lawmakers are interested in sports gambling because they have a fiscal problem. State spending over time has <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-direct-general-expenditures">increased in both absolute</a> and <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-direct-general-expenditures-capita">per-person terms</a> after <a href="http://businessmacroeconomics.com">adjusting for inflation</a>.</p>
<p>While state spending is increasing, state revenue from so-called “sin taxes” has flatlined after adjusting for inflation. <a href="https://www.lung.org/research/trends-in-lung-disease/tobacco-trends-brief/overall-tobacco-trends">People are smoking</a> and <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/353858/alcohol-consumption-low-end-recent-readings.aspx">drinking less</a>, reducing <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-tobacco-tax-revenue">revenue from cigarette</a> and <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/state-and-local-alcohol-tax-revenue">alcohol taxes</a>. Even <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/statistics/lottery-revenue">lottery revenue has flattened out</a> after growing strongly for decades.</p>
<p>Increased spending combined with a reluctance to raise taxes has led to a push to find new sources of revenue. That <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/publications/are-states-betting-sin-murky-future-state-taxation">makes sports betting an appealing</a> option to politicians.</p>
<h2>The statehouse always wins</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/march-madness-basketball-sports-betting-rcna143773">Billions of dollars are wagered</a> on sports each year. More than 90% of the money bet goes to paying out winning gamblers. Gambling operators keep the rest, which they share with the states. The percentage kept, called the hold rate, has been <a href="https://www.legalsportsreport.com/111012/analysis-2023-us-sports-betting-hold-trend/">steadily climbing over time</a>, with 2023’s <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/CY-2024_CGRT_v2.pdf">national average at 9.1%</a> of the money bet.</p>
<p>State governments now collect <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/02/legal-sports-betting.html">about half a billion dollars each quarter</a>, or about $2 billion a year, from sports gambling. That’s roughly one-fifth of that 9.1%.</p>
<p>If gamblers bet around $3 billion on March Madness, then states will pocket over $50 million dollars in extra revenue just from a three-week basketball tournament.</p>
<h2>The ugly side of sports betting</h2>
<p>Gambling is wonderful for state revenues and <a href="https://www.espn.com/espn/betting/story/_/id/39563784/sports-betting-industry-posts-record-11b-2023-revenue">gaming-company profits</a>. However, it has <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/gambling-addiction-million-white-paper-b2322452.html">a dark side</a>: While many people enjoy gambling, <a href="https://theconversation.com/millions-of-americans-are-problem-gamblers-so-why-do-so-few-people-ever-seek-treatment-197861">millions of Americans have a gambling problem</a>. </p>
<p>Studies suggest <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-014-9471-4">between 1% and 2%</a> of adults fall into this category. In Massachusetts, where I teach, a 2018 survey found that about 2% of adults were already problem gamblers, and <a href="https://www.umass.edu/seigma/sites/default/files/Seigma-GamblingHarm-Fact-Sheet-F2-2018%20copy.pdf">a further 8% were at risk</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="IIfQP" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/IIfQP/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Meanwhile, the number of calls to the <a href="https://www.ncpgambling.org/help-treatment/about-the-national-problem-gambling-helpline/">National Problem Gambling Helpline</a> lasting more than a minute <a href="https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/national.council.on.problem.gambling.ncpg/viz/NationalProblemGamblingHelplineDashboard-IncomingTraffic/IncomingTraffic">has increased sharply in recent years</a>. While this doesn’t mean that problem gambling has become more common – among other issues, correlation isn’t causation – the increase very closely matches the <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/u-s-sports-betting-here-is-where-all-50-states-currently-stand-on-legalizing-online-sports-betting-sites/">steady rollout of online sports betting</a> across the U.S.</p>
<h2>Two possible policy solutions</h2>
<p>Betting on sports was illegal before 2018. <a href="https://www.americangaming.org/illegal-sports-betting/">This forced gamblers</a> to either bet with a bookie or an offshore site. Betting with a bookie before 2018 was a relatively slow process. Gamblers typically needed to pay for their bets upfront with cash and ran the risk their bookie would be arrested or shut down.</p>
<p>Today, <a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-betting-how-in-play-betting-features-could-be-leading-to-harmful-gambling-new-research-177872">in-play or live betting</a> is legal and almost instantaneous. Bettors sitting on their couches at home can make multiple types of bets, such as which <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/mavericks/news/bad-beat-kristap-porzingis-missed-layup-cost-a-man-76000-dallas-mavericks">player will make the first shot</a> in a basketball game. In business terms, sports gambling went from extreme friction to a completely <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2019/06/09/are-you-providing-a-frictionless-customer-experience">frictionless experience</a>.</p>
<p>To reduce the harms of sports betting, I propose two ways to reinject friction into the system. The first is to prevent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/advisor/credit-cards/sports-betting/">credit cards from being used for online gambling</a>. While not every state and bank allows credit cards to fund a sports betting account, many do. Those credit cards that allow it often treat gambling payments as a <a href="https://www.citizensbank.com/learning/what-is-a-cash-advance.aspx">cash advance, which is very costly</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/news/article/gambling-on-credit-cards-to-be-banned-from-april-2020">U.K. banned credit cards for remote gambling</a> in 2020, noting that people who used credit cards to gamble were <a href="https://consult.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/author/consultation-on-gambling-with-credit-cards/supporting_documents/Print%25252520the%25252520whole%25252520consultation%25252520%25252520gambling%25252520with%25252520credit%25252520cards.pdf">disproportionately likely to be problem gamblers</a>. <a href="https://ministers.dss.gov.au/media-releases/13411">Australia has also banned</a> online bets made with credit cards. A few U.S. states, <a href="https://www.wfmj.com/story/50551277/pa-lawmakers-introduce-bill-limiting-payment-options-for-online-gambling">such as Massachusetts and Tennessee</a>, have also instituted these sorts of bans, but most have not.</p>
<p>The second idea, which I prefer, is to <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-case-for-cash-a-counterpoint-to-cashless/id1464022779?i=1000634760222">revert to common practice before 2018</a> of using cash to bet. The idea is simple. Anyone with an online gambling account would need to prefund their account with cash. Winners would never have to stop gambling.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Bags of cash and printout of a March Madness schedule are seen on a police evidence table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=391&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582643/original/file-20240318-16-qsxrnc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=491&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this 2006 file photo, the Brooklyn district attorney’s office presents evidence used to arrest 10 men in a sports betting ring. New Yorkers can now legally bet on March Madness.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-brooklyn-district-attorneys-office-presents-evidence-news-photo/526086920">Ramin Talaie/Corbis via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Losers, however, would be forced to temporarily stop betting when their account runs out of money. Needing to take a break to go to a bank or simply pull money out of your wallet and hand it to someone would give people a chance to think about what they’re doing instead of being stuck in the <a href="https://dolby.io/blog/revolutionizing-microbetting-in-sports-with-real-time-streaming/">moment of a bet-bet-bet mindset</a>.</p>
<p>In theory, people could deposit cash into their accounts at any of the <a href="https://www.naspl.org/faq">roughly 223,000 locations across the country that sell lottery tickets</a>. To implement this idea, however, the federal government would need to change a law. <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44">Since 1955</a>, it has imposed a <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44/subpart-C/section-44.4411-1">special yearly tax of $50 on each person</a> who accepts bets for profit. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-D/part-44/subpart-B/section-44.4402-1">The law</a> <a href="https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-tege/eotopice99.pdf">exempts charities and state lotteries</a>. This tax doesn’t raise much revenue already, <a href="https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes393019.htm">since so few people are subject</a> to it. It also reduces employment, as well as gambling companies’ interest in allowing in-person prefunding of accounts.</p>
<p>If you’re watching March Madness and betting on the tournament, I hope you win. But even if you don’t, at least your state government will.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/226092/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>When the US Supreme Court legalized sports betting, states were quick to get in on the action. But as lawmakers grow reliant on taxes from betting, what do they owe problem gamblers?Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor of Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2098572023-07-17T06:11:05Z2023-07-17T06:11:05ZVictoria cracks down on pokies but supporters fear interest groups could hold the winning hand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537682/original/file-20230717-116180-3d566s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=239%2C194%2C4738%2C2979&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/slot-machine-casino?mreleased=true&image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The centrepiece of the <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/landmark-reforms-reduce-gambling-related-harm">Andrews’ government pokie reform announcement</a> is the introduction of a carded system for users of poker machines.</p>
<p>Such a <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/pre-commitment-systems-electronic-gambling-machines">pre-commitment system</a> will require pokie users to register for an account linked to a gaming card which will record a limit of how much they are prepared to lose daily, weekly and monthly.</p>
<p>Once that limit has been reached, the system will not allow further gambling.
Because all pokies in the state are linked, this limit will apply across machines and across venues.</p>
<p>Other proposed reforms include:</p>
<p>• slowing down the spin rate of new machines to a minimum of three seconds (currently 2.14 seconds)</p>
<p>• requiring all venues close between 4am and 10am</p>
<p>• reducing the “load up limit” (the amount that can be credited on a poker machine at any one time) to $100, down from the current $1,000</p>
<p>• the transfer of significant education, research funding, and counselling services away from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation.</p>
<p>The government says it wants to undertake “thorough consultation with industry through an implementation working group” before the pre-commitment and reduced load up limits are introduced. This will be a red flag for many public health researchers and practitioners working in gambling harm prevention.</p>
<h2>The power of vested interest groups</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ias.org.uk/report/8606/">Harmful commodity industries</a> – tobacco, alcohol, highly processed foods, and gambling - are well resourced. They have a long history of thwarting or watering down important reforms.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Finger pressing play button on pokie machine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537686/original/file-20230717-230476-yzqhp8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gaming lobby, like the tobacco and alcohol lobbies, are well resourced to campaign against regulation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For this reason, the World Health Organization urges its members to protect people from the commercial interests of tobacco. This includes <a href="https://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-19-ftct/19-3-who-fctc-guiding-principles-and-general-obligations-">rejecting partnerships with industry</a>.</p>
<p>The more time they have, the more likely the gambling industry is to campaign with their considerable strength against these reforms. This worked with great effect in 2010-11 <a href="https://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">against the then Gillard government’s</a> proposals for a similar harm prevention system.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-strong-hand-to-tackle-gambling-harm-will-it-go-all-in-or-fold-208749">Australia has a strong hand to tackle gambling harm. Will it go all in or fold?</a>
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<p>Misinformation, disinformation and endlessly disputing the scientific evidence are all <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0087389">tobacco industry</a> tactics. They delayed reform for many years.</p>
<p>Consulting with a harmful commodity industry on the design of a new system is like consulting with the fox over the design of the new hen house. It’s not going to produce a solution.</p>
<p>It is also puzzling that the government needs to consult on how to introduce precommitment. A voluntary system called <a href="https://www.yourplay.com.au/">YourPlay</a> has been in place for some years, and provides all necessary functions. However, because it’s voluntary, it has very low uptake, and is potentially stigmatising.</p>
<p>For these reasons, <a href="https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/safer-communities/gambling/evaluation-of-yourplay-final-report">it doesn’t achieve what it could</a>. But this system could readily be converted into a universal system.</p>
<p>Doing so would provide pokie users with a set of tools to manage their gambling. This will be particularly useful for those concerned about descending into the spiral of harmful gambling. It is a definite preventive intervention.</p>
<h2>Measures being introduced locally and overseas</h2>
<p>In Tasmania, the Liberal government surprised all by announcing last year that a <a href="https://www.premier.tas.gov.au/site_resources_2015/additional_releases/nation-leading-card-based-gaming-with-pre-commitment-a-first-in-tasmania">pokies pre-commitment system</a> would be introduced by 2024.</p>
<p>The system would apply on all machines in the state from December 2024. It would impose maximum limits of $100 per day, $500 per month and $5,000 per year. Notably, the announcement surprised the gambling industry, which had campaigned fiercely for the Liberal Party in the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-09/tasmanian-hospitality-association-to-have-funding-boost/9530864">2018 Tasmanian election</a>. The system will be provided on a fee-for-service model to venue operators.</p>
<p>In NSW, the former Dominic Perrottet coalition went to the 2022 poll with a detailed proposal to introduce a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/perrottet-on-a-winner-as-advocates-and-mps-praise-pokies-reform-20230206-p5cicb.html">cashless precommitment system</a> for the state’s pokie venues. This was opposed by the gambling industry – notably the [Australian Hotels Association, and the peak body for clubs, ClubsNSW.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Former NSW premier Dominic Perrottet" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537690/original/file-20230717-234969-ycstss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Former premier Dominic Perrottet went to the NSW election proposing significant gambling reforms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/search/perrottet?image_type=photo">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The then ALP opposition backed the industry position, promising a trial of cashless pre-commitment, along with some minor reforms. These ban signage for VIP lounges (code for pokie rooms) and reduce the load-up limit on new machines to $500.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-s-cashless-pokies-trial-to-be-expanded-20230713-p5do0q.html">expert panel to guide the cashless trial</a> in NSW was announced on 13 July 2023. The trial itself is yet to begin.</p>
<p>A system providing <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283512757_Gambling_and_gambling_policy_in_Norway-an_exceptional_case">precommitment for all forms of gambling</a> in Norway was introduced in 2009. This has been regarded as a notable success, and a similar system has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7434127/">implemented in Sweden</a>.</p>
<p>Closer to home, the report of the House of Representatives committee inquiring into online gambling in Australia was published recently. It urged the Australian government, among its <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/List_of_recommendations">31 recommendations</a>, to explore mandatory pre-commitment for online gambling. It also proposed a National Regulator to provide uniform national regulatory standards for gambling.</p>
<p>There’s no doubt momentum for significant reform of gambling is building in Australia. The drivers for this are to be found in the increasing awareness of the nature and extent of gambling harm. This includes the costs of money laundering and associated criminal activity which imposes great harm on the community.</p>
<p>In NSW, the <a href="https://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au/inquiry-into-money-laundering-in-pubs-and-clubs">2022 Crime Commission report</a> into money laundering in pokies clubs and pubs sounded a major alarm. But, more generally, a new focus on using a public health lens to view gambling harm is a major development. The industry’s favoured approach, “responsible gambling”, <a href="https://www.greo.ca/Modules/EvidenceCentre/files/Livingstone%20and%20Rintoul%20(2020)_Moving%20on%20from%20responsible%20gambling_final.pdf">blames vulnerable individuals for the problem</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/4-gambling-reform-ideas-from-overseas-to-save-australia-from-gambling-loss-and-harm-165387">4 gambling reform ideas from overseas to save Australia from gambling loss and harm</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/365/bmj.l1807">public health view</a> means the focus is on harmful products, and the way they are marketed, made accessible, and cause harm.</p>
<h2>Getting the reforms through</h2>
<p>If these reforms are implemented in full, they will dramatically reduce harm. What worries the gambling industry is that it will also reduce their profits, probably quite significantly. This is because their best customers are <a href="https://www.greo.ca/Modules/EvidenceCentre/files/GREO%20(2019)%20Evidence%20brief%20Proportion%20of%20revenue%20from%20problem%20gambling.pdf">people experiencing significant harm</a> from the use of their products.</p>
<p>Pokies are responsible for between <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36729109/">51% and 57% of the gambling problems</a> in Australia.</p>
<p>For this reason, tackling pokie harm is an obvious step. Unfortunately, the gambling industry will not accept these changes quietly. Past experience suggests a concerted effort from industry to derail the reforms though procrastination and delay.</p>
<p>The Andrews government already has the wherewithal to implement these reforms quickly. If it’s genuinely committed to reducing harm, it should do so, without further delay.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209857/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, the Turkish Red Crescent Society, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Lancet Public Health Commission into gambling, and of the World Health Organisation expert group on gambling and gambling harm. He made a submission to and appeared before the HoR Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.</span></em></p>The Victorian government has announced major reforms intended to reduce harm caused by poker machines.Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2087492023-06-30T04:58:56Z2023-06-30T04:58:56ZAustralia has a strong hand to tackle gambling harm. Will it go all in or fold?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534967/original/file-20230630-25-kpnylj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C979%2C5973%2C3000&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A ban on all gambling advertising within three years has attracted the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/28/ads-for-online-gambling-should-be-banned-in-australia-within-three-years-inquiry-recommends">most attention</a> of the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/List_of_recommendations">31 recommendations</a> made by the Australian parliamentary inquiry into online gambling, which reported this week.</p>
<p>But equally significant are the recommendations to adopt public health principles to prevent gambling harm, to appoint a national online regulator, and for Australian to lead the development of international agreements that “aim to reduce gambling harm and protect public policy and research from gambling industry interference”.</p>
<p>If implemented, the recommendations will advance gambling regulation by several orders of magnitude. </p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10389-020-01437-2">Preventing harm</a> is a better goal than the current practice of ignoring harms until they become overwhelming. Building a fence at the top of the cliff, rather than providing a fleet of ambulances at the bottom, seems sensible. </p>
<p>Many countries are grappling with regulating unlicensed <a href="https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/blocking-measures-against-offshore-online-gambling-a-scoping-revi">online gambling operators</a> registered in places like Curaçao and the Isle of Man. The only way to effectively address this is via <a href="https://www.coe.int/en/web/pompidou/-/the-recording-of-the-webinar-on-behavioural-addictions-facilitated-by-information-and-communication-technologies-risks-and-perspectives-is-now-availab">international agreements</a>. </p>
<p>And as with many other harmful commodity industries, gambling operators <a href="https://www.lisbonaddictions.eu/lisbon-addictions-2022/presentations/5-ways-gambling-industry-pursues-influence-policymakers">advance their interests</a> through political influence. They have enthusiastically utilised the tactics honed by the tobacco industry – <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.03137.x">lobbying</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-14/how-the-gambling-industry-cashed-in-on-political-donations/100509026">political donations</a> and influencing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7434195/">research outcomes</a> through funding. </p>
<p>All these aspects need addressing. For example, the inquiry recommends imposing a levy on the gambling industry to fund research. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/place-your-bets-will-banning-illegal-offshore-sites-really-help-kick-our-gambling-habit-126838">Place your bets: will banning illegal offshore sites really help kick our gambling habit?</a>
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<h2>Phasing out advertising</h2>
<p>The proposals to prohibit all inducements to gamble come in four phases.</p>
<p>The first would ban all social media and online advertising. Radio advertising during school drop-off times would also be prohibited.</p>
<p>In the second phase, broadcast advertising for an hour either side of sporting broadcasts would be banned (as Opposition Leader <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/13/peter-dutton-cranks-up-pressure-on-labor-to-further-restrict-gambling-ads">Peter Dutton has argued for</a>). </p>
<p>The third stage would prohibit all broadcast advertising for gambling between 6am and 10pm.</p>
<p>Finally, three years on, all gambling advertising would be gone from our screens.</p>
<p>Not many people will miss it. A 2022 survey by the <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/polling-research-give-junk-food-gambling-ads-the-punt/">Australia Institute</a> found 70% support for such restrictions. The evidence suggests this would be beneficial to young people, since exposure to advertising increases the likelihood of gambling as adults, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/27/children-more-likely-to-become-gamblers-due-to-high-volume-of-betting-ads">with significant harm</a> for some.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-is-being-used-to-normalise-gambling-we-should-treat-the-problem-just-like-smoking-205843">Sport is being used to normalise gambling. We should treat the problem just like smoking</a>
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<h2>Important precedents</h2>
<p>The recommendations would set important precedents that can be readily applied to other forms of gambling. These include the principle of establishing a public health-oriented harm prevention policy, a national regulatory system, and enhancing consumer protections to potentially include a universal pre-commitment system. </p>
<p>If online gambling can be better regulated – and it can – why not casinos and pokies? Casino inquiries in <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=79129">New South Wales</a>, <a href="https://www.rccol.vic.gov.au/">Victoria</a>, <a href="https://www.justice.qld.gov.au/initiatives/external-review-qld-operations-star-entertainment-group">Queensland</a> and <a href="https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/perth-casino-royal-commission-final-report">Western Australia</a> have certainly demonstrated the need. So has the <a href="https://www.crimecommission.nsw.gov.au/inquiry-into-money-laundering-in-pubs-and-clubs">NSW Crime Commission</a>’s 2022 inquiry into money laundering in pubs and clubs. Notably, poker machines are estimated to be responsible for <a href="https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2006/12/1/article-p182.xml">51% to 57% of the total problems</a> arising from gambling. Race and sports wagering account for 20%.</p>
<h2>Industry will resist</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/pm/gambling-ads-ban-called-an-over-reach-/102538120">online gambling industry</a> will do all it can to thwart these initiatives, along with <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/wagering-tv-bodies-slam-proposed-gambling-ads-ban-afl-wary-of-impact-20230628-p5dk4j.html">broadcasters</a> and some <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/scourge-of-the-gambling-epidemic-teal-mp-attacks-afl-over-gambling-ads-20230302-p5coym.html">sports</a> businesses. </p>
<p>Certainly Australia’s unenviable record of being world leaders in <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-20/australians-worlds-biggest-gambling-losers/10495566">gambling losses</a> will be threatened if the recommendations are implemented. </p>
<p>The report <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/Chapter_2_-_A_national_strategy_on_online_gambling_harm_reduction">acknowledges</a> wagering service providers have “successfully framed the issue of gambling harm around personal responsibility while diminishing industry and government responsibility”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is too much potential for the gambling industry to be involved in the development of gambling regulation and policy in Australia. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Submissions from the gambling industry reflected this. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://responsiblewagering.com.au/">Responsible Wagering Australia</a>, which represents wagering companies such as Bet365, Betfair, Entain, Sportsbet, Pointsbet and Unibet, suggested the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Submissions">industry was focused on limiting harm</a>, and mindful of the risks of “problem gambling”. </p>
<p>Indeed, the inquiry’s original terms of reference were about “online gambling and its impacts on problem gamblers”. </p>
<p>The committee changed this to the “impacts on those experiencing gambling harm”. Its report reflects this change, and the majority of submissions and evidence given in <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Social_Policy_and_Legal_Affairs/Onlinegamblingimpacts/Report/B_Public_hearings">13 public hearings</a> overwhelmingly in favour of improved regulation of online gambling product</p>
<p>In the report’s forward, chair Peta Murphy writes:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am proud to say this Committee has delivered a unanimous report that says, ‘enough is enough’. </p>
</blockquote>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sport-is-being-used-to-normalise-gambling-we-should-treat-the-problem-just-like-smoking-205843">Sport is being used to normalise gambling. We should treat the problem just like smoking</a>
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<p>Gambling harm imposes <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-social-cost-of-gambling-to-victoria-121/">enormous costs</a> on the community, and on those affected, including families. Examples of these effects are prominent in the committee’s report. Many are harrowing.</p>
<p>There is some way to go before Australia joins Italy, Spain, Belgium and The Netherlands in taking action against gambling interests. But delay means more harm to more people. </p>
<p>The Australian government now has an excellent road map to demonstrate its commitment to the health and wellbeing of Australians. Adopting the inquiry’s recommendations should be a high priority.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208749/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, the Turkish Red Crescent Society, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Lancet Public Health Commission into gambling, and of the World Health Organisation expert group on gambling and gambling harm. He made a submission to and appeared before the HoR Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.</span></em></p>If implemented, the recommendations of Australia’s online gambling inquiry will advance regulation by several orders of magnitude.Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1995152023-03-21T00:36:13Z2023-03-21T00:36:13ZNo, gamblers don’t ‘need’ cash. Our research isn’t an argument against cashless gaming reform<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516249/original/file-20230320-28-5820n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The Perottett government’s promise to introduce mandatory “cashless gambling” in New South Wales by 2028 – something for which anti-gambling activists and public-health experts have long lobbied – has elicited a strong response from those with an interest in maintaining the revenue that flows from the <a href="https://www.liquorandgaming.nsw.gov.au/resources/gaming-machine-data">86,650 poker machines</a> installed in NSW clubs and hotels. </p>
<p>There are claims and counterclaims. My own research on <a href="https://www.rccol.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-08/Exhibit%20RC0322%20Annexure%20xxx%2C%20Digital%20Gambling%20Payment%20Methods%20-%20Harm%20Minimization%20Policy%20Considerations%2C%2023%20August%202020.pdf">digital gambling payment methods</a> has even been <a href="https://prwire.com.au/pr/107041/gamblers-need-cash">cited in press releases</a> in support of the status quo, on the grounds that “physical notes and coins are the most powerful harm-minimisation tool available to gamblers”.</p>
<p>While it’s nice for me and my colleague <a href="https://www.sydney.edu.au/science/about/our-people/academic-staff/abla0527.html">Alex Blaszczynski</a> to be heralded as Australia’s leading anti-gambling researchers, our research absolutely does not “state very clearly that cash has big advantages for gamblers”. </p>
<p>Our research findings on <a href="https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/23231">digital gambling payments methods</a> are much more nuanced than this. </p>
<h2>What our research shows</h2>
<p>A major factor driving problem gambling is “positivity bias” – the tendency of gamblers to forget their losses but remember their wins. </p>
<p>Electronic payments can lead to greater spending than when a person hands over cash, due to reduced friction (increased ease), reduced awareness of spending, and less “pain of paying”. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32306234/">research also shows</a> electronic gaming machines have the highest association with gambling problems. So cash on its own is no solution to problem gambling. </p>
<p>There is nothing in our research findings that contradicts the rationale for cashless gambling systems. These should more accurately be called account-based gambling systems. Their key feature is not removing cash but requiring gamblers to do their gambling through an identified account. </p>
<p>Such a system could greatly reduce gambling harms if designed well, with mandatory harm-reduction features built in. Anything that enables a gambler to more accurately track their gambling spend should help them spend less. As our research concluded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In contrast to cash payments, digital transactions contain features that can be effectively used to advantage as a means to prevent or detect excessive expenditure among individuals. As opposed to cash, electronic transactions can be readily
tracked, and expenditure patterns made available through player activity statements.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Greater losses, worse estimates</h2>
<p>In more recent research, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fadb0000792">published in 2022</a>, my colleagues and I sought to quantify the positivity bias in Australian gamblers.</p>
<p>We sent a survey to 40,000 customers of a large Australian online wagering operator. About 500 responded. We then compared their estimates of wins/losses with their actual outcomes (provided by the company). </p>
<p>Just 4% reported their results with any accuracy; 65% underestimated their losses. Significantly, the more they lost, the more they tended to underestimate how much they lost. </p>
<p>Cash-based gambling is likely even harder for individuals to track accurately. We would expect pokies players be even less aware of how much they lose, given the current design of electronic gaming machines and venues does little to discourage problem gambling.</p>
<h2>Four key harm-minimisation features</h2>
<p>The account-based cashless gambling payment system promised by the Perrottet government would involve an app to verify the gambler’s identity and a digital wallet into which they transfer funds from their bank account. </p>
<p>This is meant to achieve two things: reduce the potential <a href="https://theconversation.com/pubs-and-clubs-your-friendly-neighbourhood-money-laundering-service-thanks-to-86-640-pokies-193312">for money laundering</a>, and reduce problem gambling.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pubs-and-clubs-your-friendly-neighbourhood-money-laundering-service-thanks-to-86-640-pokies-193312">Pubs and clubs – your friendly neighbourhood money-laundering service, thanks to 86,640 pokies</a>
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<p>To do the latter will require four key features.</p>
<p>First, it should link with a self-exclusion system and allow the user to set their own binding limits on how much they want to spend.</p>
<p>Second, it must enhance awareness of their gambling spend by providing accurate statements clearly summarising wins and losses. These should be supplemented with customised information showing the user how their gambling compares to others and what actions are recommended for them.</p>
<p>Third, it should use algorithms to identify potentially harmful play such as chasing losses or escalating betting (with safeguards against gambling companies accessing and using this data) and notify individuals and venues to enable appropriate intervention. </p>
<p>Fourth, it must be designed to prevent easy access to funds. For example, deposits into a digital wallet should not be allowed from the gaming floor. There could be time limits or delays between deposits on the same day. Restrictions will also be needed on the sources of funds deposited into gambling wallets. </p>
<p>It should be easier to withdraw funds than to make deposits, and customers should be encouraged to regularly withdraw funds from their gambling wallets, potentially even automatically when they win.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/gamblers-bet-more-when-in-the-dark-feedback-can-curb-their-online-losses-161904">Gamblers bet more when in the dark: feedback can curb their online losses</a>
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<h2>Trials should not be a delaying tactic</h2>
<p>Trials will be needed to ensure account-based gambling payment systems do not have unintended negative consequences. There are important issues to test and consider, including which interventions and system design are most effective to reduce harm, but this need should not be used as a delaying tactic for what is an important and long-overdue reform. </p>
<p>About 1% of Australian adults experience severe gambling problems. About 7% of them experience moderate harm. For every person with a gambling problem, an estimated six to ten people are affected. This is a large proportion of the community.</p>
<p>The aim of account-based digital gambling payment systems is to reduce gambling harms by putting the customer in charge of their gambling. The focus is on helping customers monitor and manage their own play. </p>
<p>They will not prevent problem gambling. But they can help reduce the harm done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199515/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Gainsbury has received funding (2019-2023) from the Australian Research Council, Star Entertainment, KPMG, GambleAware, Behavioural Insights Team. QBE, Australian Cricketer's Association, Norths Collective, Senet Legal, Washington State Council, Leagues Clubs Australia, CAMH, Entain, Sportsbet, Aristocrat, NSW Office of Responsible Gambling, Cambridge Health Alliance, Responsible Wagering Australia, Wymac Gaming Solutions.
She is holds voluntary positions with NSW Liquor & Gaming, QLD Office of Liquor & Gaming Regulation, Behavioural Insights Council, International Gambling Studies, Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-Illegal Betting and Related Financial Crime</span></em></p>Our research absolutely does not ‘state very clearly that cash has big advantages for gamblers’.Sally Gainsbury, Director, Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, Professor, School of Psychology, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2011742023-03-20T19:23:06Z2023-03-20T19:23:06ZLabor is odds-on for a narrow victory in NSW election, but it is far from a sure bet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516234/original/file-20230320-24-gb9640.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bianca de Marchi/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A gambler would probably feel the odds favour a <a href="https://www.sportsbet.com.au/betting/politics/nsw-politics/nsw-election-sworn-in-government-4578691">Labor win</a> at the upcoming New South Wales election. But, as Scott Morrison <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-hails-miracle-as-coalition-snatches-unexpected-victory-117375">proved in 2019</a>, underdog status is prized in politics. Favouritism brings its own challenges, especially when the game takes an unanticipated twist. In this setting, the wide path to victory can quickly become a narrow track to defeat.</p>
<p>NSW voters go to the booths on March 25 with Premier Dominic Perrottet seeking to lock in 16 years of Liberal-National incumbency. The Labor opposition under Chris Minns is <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-slides-in-a-federal-newspoll-nsw-polls-give-labor-a-modest-lead-200734">polling well</a>. Despite this, Perrottet isn’t playing to type.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/nsw-resolve-poll-has-narrow-lead-for-labor-five-days-before-election-201944">NSW Resolve poll has narrow lead for Labor five days before election</a>
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<p>This campaign is recasting the state’s typically combative political culture. Peace has broken out. Major campaign promises, from both sides, are converging on a shared political centre. Be it <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/tolls-and-trains-sydney-transport-front-and-centre-for-minns-and-perrottet-20230212-p5cjvm.html">toll relief</a>, health infrastructure, energy vouchers or other rebates, only strategic nuances separate the two.</p>
<p>Funding commitments, too, are broadly on par. The Coalition’s “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/what-happened-to-the-bear-pit-this-nsw-election-is-a-bipartisan-love-in-20230310-p5cr3l.html">future fund</a>” promises education and housing co-investment to individuals, while Labor’s “education future fund” directly targets the schools system.</p>
<p>On public sector wages, neither side is promising increases. Both leaders will thin the ranks and freeze the pay of senior public servants. And Perrottet has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-rules-out-future-privatisation-in-major-coalition-shift-20230228-p5co7m.html">ruled out further privatisation</a>, ending nearly a decade of “asset recycling” and bringing the Coalition into line with Labor.</p>
<p>With commonality abounding, real difference is emerging on unanticipated terrain. The NSW cabinet’s decision to introduce <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-06/nsw-gambling-reform-agreement/101934094">cashless gaming</a> within five years is providing Perrottet a moral profile that typically takes time for a new leader to build. It also acts as a reset following revelations of his <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/not-above-the-law-nsw-premier-dominic-perrottet-to-be-referred-to-police-after-nazi-costume-revelation/ehlpplxts">Nazi costume</a> choice at his 21st birthday.</p>
<p>In contrast, Labor won’t back gambling reform, seemingly untroubled by the issue from a campaign standpoint. These divergent stances could weigh on undecided voters wondering what kind of a premier Minns might be. Would he stand up to powerful lobbyists? It’s not an insignificant question given <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-18/nsw-former-mps-charged-eddie-obeid-joe-tripodi-tony-kelly/101248938">Labor’s past</a> in NSW. It may be a factor in marginal electorates.</p>
<p>Several seats in western Sydney are shaping as tight contests. With roughly <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/content/dam/digital/images/centre-for-western-sydney/CfWS-Western-Sydney-Votes-2023.pdf">one-third of total votes</a> cast at the election to be lodged in Sydney’s west, there is no path to victory for the Coalition or Labor without the region’s support.</p>
<p>East Hills, which the Liberals hold by just 0.1%, is a campaign focal point. In an announcement confined almost entirely to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/WendyLindsayforEastHills/">social media</a>, the premier committed $1.3 billion to construct a hospital in the electorate.</p>
<p>Ordinarily, a hospital pledge would be a widely promoted commitment. Keeping it local may be a deliberate strategy to emulate isolated success at last year’s federal election. In the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, the federal Liberals <a href="https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/content/dam/digital/images/centre-for-western-sydney/Western-Sydney-Votes-2022-The-Results-CfWS.pdf">bucked the national trend</a> and secured a positive swing. Hyper-local, street-by-street campaigning fuelled that unexpected surge.</p>
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<p>Lindsay overlays the marginal NSW seat of Penrith, where <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/stuart-ayres-will-return-to-cabinet-if-coalition-wins-election-20230124-p5cf2j.html">former minister</a> Stuart Ayres is defending a margin of just 0.6%. Here, too, the Liberals are upending wider campaign tactics for a local pitch, with the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-18/gladys-berejiklian-election-showing-could-help-hinder-liberals/102106588">help of former premier</a> Gladys Berejiklian.</p>
<p>Continuing his moral stance, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-and-minns-square-off-in-election-debate-20230315-p5cs78.html">Perrottet endorsed</a> the Independent Commission of Corruption’s investigation of her and continues to disavow her it’s “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-pledges-to-publish-data-to-track-election-promise-spending-20230309-p5cqur.html">not illegal</a>” rationale for pork-barrelling.</p>
<p>Other factors ramp up the unpredictability. The new seat of Leppington – nominally Labor (1.7%) – takes in many highly mortgaged areas of Campbelltown, Liverpool and surrounds. The pace of housing development has far <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/there-s-50-000-voters-in-this-new-sydney-seat-this-is-what-they-want-20230310-p5cr0n.html">eclipsed the construction</a> of education, health and transport links.</p>
<p>Similar growing pains are evident in electorates like Riverstone, where existing services are <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/here-s-what-s-missing-everything-no-schools-and-no-services-but-houses-keep-going-up-20221012-p5bp7o.html">unable to cope</a> with surging housing estates. Labor is, accordingly, promising to address these challenges, committing to a range of investments such as a <a href="https://www.nswlabor.org.au/sydney_s_north_west_deserves_a_full_service_public_hospital">$700 million hospital</a> for Rouse Hill.</p>
<p>The retirement of several senior Liberal members brings additional opportunities for Labor in key seats. Kevin Connolly in Riverstone and Geoff Lee in Parramatta are departing, along with cabinet members David Elliott, Brad Hazzard and Rob Stokes.</p>
<p>Stokes’ seat of Pittwater is among a clutch of northern Sydney electorates facing challenges by independent candidates. However, a repeat of the federal “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-big-teal-steal-independent-candidates-rock-the-liberal-vote-183024">teal wave</a>” is unlikely, given the optional flow of preferences, and <a href="https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/nsw-budget-puts-women-at-heart-of-investment-165-billion-support">mitigating budget measures</a> from Treasurer Matt Kean with a focus on women and sustainability.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-antony-green-professor-andy-marks-and-ashleigh-raper-on-the-nsw-election-201957">Politics with Michelle Grattan: Antony Green, Professor Andy Marks and Ashleigh Raper on the NSW election</a>
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<p>In the regions, the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-18/mining-agriculture-and-jobs-in-upper-hunter-election/102097180">transition to clean energy</a> is challenging the Nationals’ hold on the Upper Hunter, while the retirement of Liberal Shelley Hancock has put the seat of South Coast in the frame for Labor. And the Nationals’ grip on the bellwether electorate of Monaro will be closely watched, with former Labor representative <a href="https://citynews.com.au/2023/whans-number-one-on-the-monaro-ballot-paper/">Steve Whan</a> making a comeback.</p>
<p>This is an unusual election. Conventional analysis – and the bookies – suggest a Labor win, likely in minority government. But the Coalition are rolling the dice in narrowly targeted areas and on atypical issues. </p>
<p>While the heat has gone out of NSW politics, many voters will struggle to make sense of the peace. Others are understandably sceptical it will last.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201174/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andy Marks does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite being in power for 12 years, Dominic Perrottet’s government is making an unusual pitch for re-election and giving Chris Minns’ Labor opposition a run for its money.Andy Marks, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Strategy, Government and Alliances, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1993542023-02-14T21:54:27Z2023-02-14T21:54:27ZGambling Act review: how EU countries are tightening restrictions on ads and why the UK should too<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508437/original/file-20230206-13-ysb1s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=22%2C13%2C940%2C622&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The UK is currently review its gambling regulations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marko Aliaksandr/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the 2005 Gambling Act was drafted the world was very different. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube didn’t exist. Gambling was often seen as a shady activity typically conducted in smoky high-street betting shops. You certainly couldn’t use a smartphone to gamble 24/7 with a couple of clicks.</p>
<p>Aware of these changes, in 2019 the UK government announced a review to ensure that the Gambling Act was “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence/review-of-the-gambling-act-2005-terms-of-reference-and-call-for-evidence">fit for the digital age</a>”. The government recently <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people/making-government-deliver-for-the-british-people-html">called the review a priority</a> but has not announced a new date for its publication <a href="https://www.nottinghampost.com/sport/football/football-news/wife-nottingham-forest-legend-slams-8130442">after announcing a delay in July 2022</a>.</p>
<p>As the government contemplates how to regulate this industry, new rules are needed to cover, not just sports betting, but the rise of online casinos, poker matches and virtual slot machines in the internet age.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/esports-could-be-quietly-spawning-a-whole-new-generation-of-problem-gamblers-147124">Esports could be quietly spawning a whole new generation of problem gamblers</a>
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<p>In particular, reform of gambling advertising is sorely needed. It has morphed out of all recognition in the last 18 years. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/05/gambling-logos-feature-700-times-in-football-match-says-ch4-documentary">Gambling logos</a> can be seen 700 times during major football matches on TV, while the social media accounts of big betting companies post <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0743915621999674">over 28,000 ads per year</a>. </p>
<p>Research shows that gambling ads on Twitter are <a href="https://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/management/documents/what-are-the-odds-rossi-nairn-2021.pdf">particularly appealing to children and young people</a>. So it is perhaps no surprise that as many as 30,000 young people aged 11 to 16 may suffer from <a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/young-people-and-gambling-2022">harmful gambling habits</a>. Gambling harms include financial, emotional and social difficulties.</p>
<p>Another recent study indicated a link between exposure to gambling ads <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">and suffering from such harms</a> for all age groups. This is particularly worrying since there are already <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review/gambling-related-harms-evidence-review-summary--2">400 gambling-related suicides every year</a> in the UK.</p>
<p>But the UK is actually at the global forefront of gambling <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40429-022-00457-0">advertising deregulation</a>, while other European countries have been tightening these rules. From changes announced in Italy four years ago to more recent reforms in Germany, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands over the last few months, the UK could learn a lot from these regulatory approaches.</p>
<h2>Italy: a complete ban on all gambling advertising</h2>
<p>At the start of 2019, Italy banned almost all gambling marketing. The Decreto Dignità (Dignity Decree) prohibited all TV, radio, press and internet gambling marketing. This blanket ban was brought in shortly after a study highlighted that 3% of the Italian population was <a href="https://www.minervamedica.it/en/journals/minerva-forensic-medicine/article.php?cod=R11Y2021N02A0029&acquista=1">suffering from gambling harms</a>. </p>
<p>The gambling industry said <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">such a ban would be ineffective</a> at addressing betting in settings such as shops or casinos. And that it would encourage customers to use illegal gambling sites such as unregulated online casinos. </p>
<p>It also complained that industry revenue dropped <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063911/players-losses-of-money-in-the-gambling-market-in-italy/">from €19 billion in 2018 to €15 billion in 2021</a>. But since gambling revenue remained consistent until February 2020, it is <a href="https://www.gamblinginsider.com/magazine/114/did-the-industry-cry-wolf-over-italy">generally accepted</a> that this drop resulted from the COVID lockdowns, when sports events came to an almost total halt.</p>
<p><strong>Different approaches to gambling regulation</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=318&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509137/original/file-20230209-26-79fih.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Produced by the authors.</span>
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<h2>Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany: one step at a time</h2>
<p>Other EU countries have taken a more piecemeal approach to recent reforms than Italy.</p>
<p>In 2018 Belgium <a href="https://www.finsmes.com/2018/09/belgium-toughens-up-on-gambling-advertising.html">banned</a> the broadcasting of gambling adverts 15 minutes before or after children’s programming, public posters for gambling, and direct advertising to named individuals in any form. Even these moves were deemed inadequate, with the Belgian Justice Minister <a href="https://www.brusselstimes.com/223595/gambling-is-the-new-smoking-belgium-to-ban-nearly-all-betting-ads">arguing last year</a>: “Gambling advertising is fired at us from all sides every day and encourages these addictions, including among young people.” </p>
<p>Subsequently, the Belgian government <a href="https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2022/12/19/65456-belgium-approves-draft-royal-decree-to-restrict-gambling-advertising-as-of-june-2023">approved new legislation</a> in December 2022 to ban gambling advertising almost entirely as of July 2023. </p>
<p>The Netherlands has focused on restricting <a href="https://fd.nl/bedrijfsleven/1444902/kabinet-legt-gokreclames-verder-aan-banden">mass marketing</a> on television, radio, internet search engines and public spaces. This approach aims to prevent a <a href="https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/holding-back-tide/">“bombardment” of gambling ads</a>, particularly to children and young people.</p>
<p>Germany’s June 2021 <a href="https://www.cliffordchance.com/content/dam/cliffordchance/briefings/2021/07/new-german-interstate-treaty-on-gambling-entered-into-effect.pdf">State Treaty on Gambling</a> is the least restrictive measure of the four EU countries that have made the most recent changes to gambling regulations.</p>
<p>It includes a ban on advertising to minors or at-risk groups (such as people likely to suffer from certain mental health conditions, or who previously suffered from a gambling addiction). But most interesting is Germany’s “watershed” approach to licensed online casinos, poker and virtual slot operators. Gambling adverts for these providers are prohibited on radio, TV and the internet between 6am and 9pm. </p>
<p>While the UK also has a watershed approach, this only applies to TV adverts during live sporting events. In the digital era, this seems insufficient.</p>
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<img alt="Man using online sports betting services on phone and laptop" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/508439/original/file-20230206-23-55pu6j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">There have also been calls for online sports betting restrictions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kaspars Grinvalds/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>A senior commissioner in Germany’s ministry for health <a href="https://www.bundesdrogenbeauftragter.de/presse/detail/sucht-und-drogenbeauftragter-stellt-schwerpunkte-vor/">championed</a> this measure and also wants to expand it to sports betting.</p>
<p>Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany all have restrictions around sports betting given the close relationship between sport (particularly football) and gambling. In Germany, advertising with active athletes and officials is prohibited. <a href="https://thelawreviews.co.uk/title/the-gambling-law-review/belgium">Belgium</a>, the Netherlands and Italy have strong restrictions on most sports betting marketing including betting ads during football matches and full sponsorship bans.</p>
<p>A number of UK campaigners have called for a similar approach, including <a href="https://the-bigstep.com/">the Big Step</a> initiative, whose supporters include former England football star Peter Shilton.</p>
<h2>Reviewing the UK Gambling Act</h2>
<p>These four EU countries’ recent gambling reforms have been quite different, but they all have one thing in common: substantial legislative reforms. </p>
<p>For the UK, our research shows that the safest option, particularly for children and people at risk, is a full advertising and sponsorship ban such as Italy and Belgium have executed.</p>
<p>The UK gambling industry and its lobbying group, the Betting and Gaming Council, has <a href="https://sbcnews.co.uk/sportsbook/2022/02/18/bgc-points-to-european-black-markets-as-warning-to-ministers/">argued</a> that such measures would drive people into black market gambling. But we can find no credible evidence for such claims. It has also argued that there is no evidence to link gambling advertising to gambling harms. But research <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0033350622003420">has shown this link</a>.</p>
<p>The UK government has emphasised that the current gambling act review needs to “get the balance right” while “following the evidence”. So now is the time to listen, not only to public opinion, but also to mounting evidence about the links between gambling advertising and gambling harms and tighten the regulation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199354/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Raffaello Rossi currently receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), and the charity Action Against Gambling Harms. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Agnes Nairn works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ben Ford works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Wheaton works for the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research at the University of Bristol. The Hub is funded by a grant awarded by the charity GambleAware (this charity receives donations from the gambling industry).</span></em></p>The UK has a gambling problem but some of its neighbours could provide inspiration on how to prevent gambling harms.Raffaello Rossi, Lecturer in Marketing, University of BristolAgnes Nairn, Professor of Marketing, University of BristolBen Ford, Research Associate, University of BristolJamie Wheaton, Research Associate, University of BristolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949932023-02-03T13:30:38Z2023-02-03T13:30:38Z40 years of legal sports betting in Australia points to risks for US gamblers – and tips for regulators<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507437/original/file-20230131-10022-fhws2c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=591%2C335%2C2286%2C1587&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The country's history of state-sanctioned gambling goes back to the early 19th century.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/finance-economy-racing-australia-by-neil-sands-a-man-fills-news-photo/83528625?adppopup=true">William West/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australians <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270263728.pdf">love to gamble</a>. It’s often said that if they could, they would bet on two flies crawling up a wall. The <a href="https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/1960-04-19/act-1960-029">Sydney Opera House</a> and <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/46640222">Sydney Harbour Bridge</a> were funded, in part, by government lotteries.</p>
<p>It’s only been five years <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/14/us/politics/supreme-court-sports-betting-new-jersey.html">since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned</a> a federal law that essentially banned sports betting in most states, but in Australia, the novelty of legal sports betting has long worn off: It’s been legal <a href="https://www.vgccc.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Australian_gambling_comparative_history_and_analysis_project_report_1999.pdf">since the 1980s</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=hJZwAYkAAAAJ&hl=en">I’ve been researching gambling in Australia</a> since 2011, and I’ve been a team member on some major studies of online gambling. I’ve also led studies on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-019-09848-x">risk factors for problematic sports betting</a> and the harms associated with <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">certain types of sports betting</a>.</p>
<p>Americans just starting to get familiar with sports betting can learn some lessons from Australia’s approach to sports betting and the research on its effects.</p>
<h2>A culture of gambling</h2>
<p>Australia has a long history of state-sanctioned gambling, dating back to the <a href="https://twitter.com/dictionaryofsyd/status/654093938979004417">first known organized horse racing event</a>, which took place <a href="https://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/archive/discover_collections/society_art/races/horse/hydepark.html">in 1810</a>.</p>
<p>Bettors were initially required to go to a race track to place a bet. This was a hassle for many bettors, so <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/270263728.pdf">illegal bookies</a> started taking bets in places like bars. Their prices tended to be favorable because, unlike official bookmakers at the tracks, they didn’t pay a tax. </p>
<p>This prompted state governments to open off-course betting companies, starting with the state of Victoria’s <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/tab-an-idea-that-became-a-licence-to-print-money-19920423-k4v62">Totalisator Agency Board in 1961</a>. Other states soon followed. </p>
<p>While horse betting has long been legal in Australia, sports betting wasn’t legal <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nt/consol_act/raba1983153/">until 1983</a>. That year, Totalisator Agency Boards began taking bets on sports – typically soccer, cricket and boxing. Nongovernment sportsbooks didn’t appear until 1993, when <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2010/submissions/subdr376.pdf">Sportsbet became the first private company to obtain a license</a>. Online sports betting followed, with Centrebet.com.au, an online gambling website, <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommsen%2Fj0000351.sgm%2F0010;query=Id%3Acommittees%2Fcommsen%2Fj0000351.sgm%2F0006">launching in 1996</a>.</p>
<p>Today, many online operators take bets on sports, races and even things like <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8224531/Sportsbet-allows-punters-place-bets-Prime-Minister-Scott-Morrison-tie-colour.html">what color tie the prime minister will wear</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Black and white photo of rows of women sitting at computer terminals." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507420/original/file-20230131-15237-ay8vn7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Employees of Australia’s Totalisator Agency Board take and place bets over the phone in 1985.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tabs-21st-birthday-the-tab-telephone-betting-service-news-photo/1080252258?adppopup=true">Fairfax Media Archives/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Slowing the pace of bets</h2>
<p>Gambling’s foothold in Australian culture has had a host of repercussions.</p>
<p>Australians are the <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/scary-graph-shows-how-australians-are-the-biggest-losers/news-story/4a437cd5f735b87988549b37af12917f">biggest losers worldwide</a>, losing more than twice as much to gambling per person than almost every other country. This is largely due to the ubiquitous presence of slot machines <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Pokies-pub-test-FINAL_0.pdf">in hotels and bars</a>. But Australians also <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/costs/scary-graph-shows-how-australians-are-the-biggest-losers/news-story/4a437cd5f735b87988549b37af12917f">lose more per capita</a> on sports and race betting.</p>
<p>Because sports betting in Australia existed prior to online gambling, governments had to work out what types of betting to allow online. The country has regulations in place that restrict some forms of wagering, like fast-paced betting.</p>
<p>Slot machines, for example, are fast-paced, because each spin is a bet, and a person can easily slip “<a href="https://gamblingresearch.sites.olt.ubc.ca/files/2021/04/Murch-and-Clark-2021-Understanding-the-Slot-Machine-Zone-PREPRINT.pdf">into the zone</a>,” losing track of their spending. <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/about-interactive-gambling-act">Online slots are banned</a> for this reason.</p>
<p>Similar restrictions exist for online sports betting. Most people will place a bet <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-013-9415-4">before a match starts</a> and will mostly bet on who will win, or possibly by how much they will win. </p>
<p>But, over time, more betting options have become available. People can now bet on who will score first, or next, or whether a certain number of points will be scored in a quarter or half. <a href="https://freakonometrics.hypotheses.org/58041">Since 2002</a>, Australians have also been able to place bets “live” or “in-play” – in other words, during a game.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man in suit holds sign advertising betting odds to passersby." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=342&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507423/original/file-20230131-12-gj3y4o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An employee for Sportsbet holds a sign advertising betting odds for a cricket match in 2010.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/haydn-lane-from-sportsbet-com-au-holds-up-the-odds-of-news-photo/107565307?adppopup=true">William West/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, live sports betting can be done, but not online. They must be placed by telephone call or at a venue, such as a bar, casino or betting shop, which is a storefront where people can place bets. This is partly to allow staff to intervene if someone is showing signs of problems, much like a bartender who can cut off a customer who has had too much to drink. Whether these interventions regularly occur <a href="https://www.gambleaware.nsw.gov.au/resources-and-education/check-out-our-research/published-research/responsible-conduct-of-gambling-study">is another matter</a>.</p>
<p>There is also a particularly fast-paced form of sports betting, known as <a href="https://www.playmaryland.com/sports-betting/micro/">microbetting</a>. Think of placing a bet on whether the next pitch in baseball will be a ball or a strike. </p>
<p>In studies I’ve conducted with other gambling researchers, we found that microbetting is done almost exclusively by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10899-018-9810-y">higher-risk gamblers</a>. In Australia, microbetting is not allowed even via phone calls, but consumers can access markets in other countries to place these bets, even though they are <a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/online-gambling-services">strongly discouraged from doing so</a>.</p>
<h2>Ads flood the airwaves</h2>
<p>With so many online betting sites in Australia, there’s a lot of competition, which means Australians are inundated with gambling ads and promotions.</p>
<p>In fact, there are <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/documents/679/OBrien-Children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-ads-Sep-2019_PBFEExL.pdf">five times as many TV ads for gambling</a> as there are alcohol ads – and Australia has <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3k3ax5/how-dangerous-australias-drinking-culture-alcohol-global-drug-survey-2019">a pretty big drinking culture</a>.</p>
<p>These gambling ads are effective. A series of studies that I worked on, which were led by Professor Nerilee Hing from the Experimental Gambling Research Laboratory at CQUniversity, found that people who see more ads and promotions are more likely to <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/effects-of-wagering-marketing-on-vulnerable-adults-408/">bet when they don’t intend to</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.10">bet more than they intend</a>, and place bets on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.8.2019.30">more unlikely outcomes</a> – meaning they lose more.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eLfsXqYpAzY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Former sprinter Ben Johnson, who was stripped of his Olympic medals after being caught doping, stars in an ad for Sportsbet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We also examined public advertising, such as TV ads, compared to direct messages, such as emails or text messages. We found that direct messages are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1556/2006.7.2018.99">more effective</a>, can be personalized and may be harder to regulate because they are not public.</p>
<p>Australians can also <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/gambling-transactions-using-your-credit-card-are-they-allowed">use credit cards</a> to place bets. These transactions are not treated as regular online purchases, but instead as cash advances, meaning there are no interest-free periods, and there are also higher interest rates and cash advance fees. Many consumers don’t realize this and end up being forced to fork over more money than they anticipated. Some gambling operators have even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/18/sportsbet-calls-for-ban-on-using-credit-cards-to-gamble-online-as-ama-warns-of-rising-harms">called for a ban</a> on the use of credit cards for online gambling.</p>
<h2>Regulations in play</h2>
<p>Earlier, I pointed out that some of the key ideas around restrictions for online gambling are about reducing harm. But online gambling is still available at any time, as long as you have a phone or tablet, and just about all of us do. So, imagine someone experiencing a strong gambling urge, especially someone with little self-control. It’s easier than ever to place a bet via any number of payment methods, including credit cards, at any time, including when you’re drunk.</p>
<p>Fortunately, further regulations are being introduced.</p>
<p>The federal government is ultimately responsible for legislating online gambling in Australia. The <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people-programs-services-gambling/national-consumer-protection-framework-for-online-wagering-national-policy-statement">National Consumer Protection Framework</a> is a government initiative intended to implement changes to online sports and race betting, including restrictions on gambling promotions, and a national self-exclusion program.</p>
<p>Heavy bettors typically have accounts with multiple gambling operators, and if they wanted to opt out, previously they would have had to do so with each operator. Soon, they will be able to self-exclude in one place, through a government-run program called “<a href="https://www.acma.gov.au/betstop-national-self-exclusion-register">Betstop</a>,” and this will apply across all online operators. </p>
<p>Consumers are also able to set limits and monitor how much they have spent. As of 2019, every online gaming provider is required to offer deposit limits, although consumers do not have to take them up. However, our research team has found that voluntary limits – many of which are sky-high – only have so much use, and that mandatory limits with reasonable maximum levels would <a href="https://www.cqu.edu.au/cquninews/stories/research-category/2022-research/setting-limits-makes-a-difference,-but-gamblers-need-more-prompts-to-opt-in-cqu-research">make a bigger difference</a>. </p>
<p>Unlike Australia, where sports betting was legal before online betting was invented, U.S. states are introducing legalized sports betting at a time when technology allows for many types of betting products, including particularly dangerous ones. It is important for U.S. legislators and regulators to consider not just whether sports betting should be legal, but which betting products should be allowed, and what harm-reduction regulations could be implemented.</p>
<p>Different U.S. states have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/willyakowicz/2023/01/09/where-is-sports-betting-legal-america-2022/?sh=62db3f04386b">different restrictions on sports betting</a>, with some not allowing it at all, some only allowing it in person, and some allowing just about everything, including online wagers. Some states also have restrictions on <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/sports-betting-laws-by-state-5219064">certain bet types</a>.</p>
<p>While some people will argue that it is up to bettors to keep themselves safe, it is important to remember that no one sets out to develop a gambling problem. And gambling products are, by nature, addictive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194993/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alex Russell has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the New South Wales Office of Responsible Gambling, the South Australian State Government, the Queensland Justice and Attorney-General, Gambling Research Australia, the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the National Association for Gambling Studies and the Alberta Gambling Research Institute. He has had travel expenses paid to present research by the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, PsychMed and the Hawthorn Hawks Football Club Players’ Association.</span></em></p>Australians lose more money gambling on sports, per capita, than any country in the world.Alex Russell, Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1653872021-08-04T23:35:16Z2021-08-04T23:35:16Z4 gambling reform ideas from overseas to save Australia from gambling loss and harm<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414093/original/file-20210802-18-leu1kp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C6006%2C3980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s now well recognised gambling can cause <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30289-9/fulltext">significant</a> <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341046047_Gambling_and_gambling-related_harm_Recent_World_Health_Organisation_initiatives">harm</a>. However, many countries have done much more to reduce gambling-related harm than we have in Australia. </p>
<p>Here’s four examples of how other countries have responded to the challenge of growing gambling-related harm, drawn from my <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/angela-rintoul-vic-2018/">research</a> on the topic.</p>
<h2>Setting loss limits for everyone</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278013/">Norway</a> replaced harmful high-intensity slot machines — similar to poker machines seen in many clubs, pubs and casinos in Australia — with machines that require users to register their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-009-9127-y">gambling</a>. </p>
<p>For example, every <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/add.13172">Norwegian</a> using one of these machines has to create a registered account, with maximum limits set on how much you can lose per day and per month, and the capacity to set a lower limit than the universal maximum.</p>
<p>These kind of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319480788_Pre-commitment_systems_for_electronic_gambling_machines_Preventing_harm_and_improving_consumer_protection">pre-commitment systems</a> help prevent harm, and help people keep track of their losses.</p>
<p>Finland also has <a href="https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/fellow/angela-rintoul-vic-2018/">universal loss limits</a> (meaning limits on how much can be bet per day or per month) to prevent “catastrophic” losses for online gambling. </p>
<p>There’s no reason Australia couldn’t follow suit, if it wanted to.</p>
<p>Victoria already offers a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319480788_Pre-commitment_systems_for_electronic_gambling_machines_Preventing_harm_and_improving_consumer_protection">voluntary pre-commitment scheme</a>, which allows people to opt-in if they want to set a loss limit. It’s been <a href="https://apo.org.au/sites/default/files/resource-files/2020-02/apo-nid277096.pdf">shown</a> to be ineffective, partly because it is optional. A universal scheme that applied to all would work much better to reduce gambling-related harm.</p>
<h2>Reducing the stakes</h2>
<p>In 2019, the British government responded to reports of a surge in harms related to slot machines known as “<a href="https://www.plutobooks.com/9780745340395/vicious-games/">fixed odds betting terminals</a>” (FOBTs). This is a kind of electronic roulette game that sits in betting stores in the UK. </p>
<p>Despite the gambling industry, as one <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06946/SN06946.pdf">report</a> put it, “disputing a causal link between FOBTs and problem gambling”, harm-reduction <a href="https://tribunemag.co.uk/2019/01/fixed-odds-betting-terminals-fobts?fbclid=IwAR34lnRbyLtjrVAeNRgMiGMMZNCyobBMk-XANcLYLABVXvxr08oAMMldf6U">campaigners</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/17/killing-machines-tracey-crouch-on-why-she-resigned-as-minister-over-fobts">publicised</a> <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-48804945">stories</a> of people bereaved by gambling-related suicide. </p>
<p>In response to subsequent public concern, the government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/nov/14/government-u-turn-expected-on-fobt-maximum-stake">reduced stakes</a> on FOBTs from £100 to £2. </p>
<p>In other words, the maximum amount you could lose per spin shrank from £100 to £2. </p>
<p>By contrast, in Australia in 2010, the Productivity Commission <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2010/report">recommended</a> a reduction in the maximum stake on poker machines in clubs and hotels from $10 to $1. </p>
<p>A decade later, this has yet to be tried, although most Australian states (other than NSW and the ACT) have reduced the maximum loss per spin to <a href="https://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/Australian_New_Zealand_Gaming_Machine_National_Standard_2016.PDF">$5</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman contemplates credit card debt." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/414279/original/file-20210803-25-n3e5vm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other countries have shown reforms that reduce gambling-related harm are possible.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reducing reliance on gambling revenues</h2>
<p>The gambling industry often <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-pokie-operators-are-not-nearly-as-charitable-as-they-claim-124085">argues</a> harms from gambling are offset by its <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14459795.2016.1263353?casa_token=lxxYVjtVpn4AAAAA%3ACgLYv9J37ag8AFybPO_QzaJHz3XzpePdtqo9Y3Bb9VPIfLp-kM9xGZ4vGrUKH2cNIlruqZhKzBY_1eI">donations to good causes</a>.</p>
<p>Many Nordic countries also divert gambling revenue to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16066359.2019.1663834?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=iart20">good causes</a> such as not-for-profit organisations providing child protection services or <a href="https://www.aspeninstitute.org/blog-posts/norway-won-winter-olympics/">Olympic</a> teams.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finlands_gambling_problem_a_robin_hood_system_in_reverse/10329304">Finland</a>, over 69% of gambling revenue goes to good causes (though even this is coming under <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1455072520968024">scrutiny</a>).</p>
<p>In Australia, donations to good causes are around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2019.1663834">2% of revenues</a>. The community benefits from gambling are tiny. </p>
<p>Australian state and territory governments rely on gambling taxes for around 6% of their <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/government/taxation-revenue-australia/latest-release#data-download">state tax revenue</a>.</p>
<p>This may pose a challenge to reform; any significant reduction in harm will <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/setting-limits-9780198817321?cc=jp&lang=en&">reduce revenues</a>. </p>
<p>Finland is achieving <a href="https://iclg.com/practice-areas/gambling-laws-and-regulations/finland">reform</a> by introducing it <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1455072520968024">incrementally</a>, allowing the reduction in revenue to be managed over time.</p>
<h2>A national regulator</h2>
<p>Australia’s fragmented system, where gambling is regulated at state and territory levels, is another challenge.</p>
<p>National strategies to prioritise action and coordinate efforts can help align responses. A <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people-programs-services-gambling/national-consumer-protection-framework-for-online-wagering">national regulator</a> could assist in implementing and strengthening existing responses. </p>
<p>The standardised system of regulation in the countries I researched was a feature that could be adopted in Australia, which has a relatively small population.</p>
<h2>An opportunity for reform</h2>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/what-we-learned-about-crown-from-the-nsw-inquiry-20210222-p574sr.html">Bergin inquiry</a> into whether Crown was fit to hold a license in a new casino in Barangaroo and ongoing royal commissions in <a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-improper-unacceptable-revelations-about-crowns-casino-culture-just-get-worse-164084">Victoria</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-26/regulator-may-seek-to-cancel-crown-perth-casino-licence/100323118">Western Australia</a> continue to expose flaws in the provision of gambling with Australia’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/responsible-gambling-a-bright-shining-lie-crown-resorts-and-others-can-no-longer-hide-behind-162089">largest casino operator</a>. </p>
<p>These overseas examples show there are many effective ways to reduce gambling harm in casinos, clubs, pubs and suburban communities. </p>
<p>We are fortunate at least in Australia that online gambling has been limited to wagering and lotteries; in many countries slot machines and casino table games are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8278013/">available</a> online 24/7. </p>
<p>Australia has an opportunity now to reduce harm by considering approaches implemented elsewhere.</p>
<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone
you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela does not accept funding from the gambling industry. She has been employed on grants funded by the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation. She has contributed to studies funded by Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety, and the Australian Commonwealth Department of Social Services. Angela has received travel funding from the Turkish Green Crescent Society, Monash University and the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.</span></em></p>Many countries have done much more to reduce gambling-related harm than we have in Australia.Angela Rintoul, Senior Research Fellow, Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1328762020-04-01T02:06:13Z2020-04-01T02:06:13ZMost community bids to block pokies fail – the law is stacked against them too<p>Most Australians know you never end up winning on the pokies. What Australians might not know is that the odds of winning a case against a poker-machine proposal in their local neighbourhood are very poor too. My <a href="http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:162956">recent study</a> shows the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) approved almost 90% of poker-machine licence applications that came before it.</p>
<p>Although the commission must consider the views of the local council when making decisions, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-03/city-of-casey-decision-on-new-pokies/12018258">council opposition rarely stops a proposal</a>. These cases are hard to fight and win. They are very expensive and demanding. Should a Victorian council brave the fight, the <a href="http://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/view/rmit:162956">odds of losing are as high as 80%</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pokies-sport-and-racing-harm-41-of-monthly-gamblers-survey-81486">Pokies, sport and racing harm 41% of monthly gamblers: survey</a>
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<p>Not all councils have the resources or appetite for such a battle. This is a problem for councils and communities. Their frustration about the lack of local influence on regulatory decision-making adds to their concerns about gambling harm in their community.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323444/original/file-20200326-133007-1ly88nm.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Even when councils oppose an application for a poker-machine venue, the applicant wins up to 80% of the time.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Peter Hermes Furian/Shutterstock</span></span>
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<h2>There’s a reason councils rarely win</h2>
<p>The question is why are these cases so hard to win? Especially when the Victorian regulatory system – under the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/gra2003190/">Gambling Regulation Act 2003</a> and the <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/paea1987254/">Planning and Environment Act 1987</a> – specifically acknowledges the importance of local influence on the distribution of poker machines.</p>
<p>Regulatory and quasi-court procedures are notoriously complex and resource-demanding; this includes poker-machine regulation. However, less attention and scrutiny have been given to the assumptions and principles underpinning gambling policy and procedures. This is the source of councils’ difficulty in winning a case against poker machines.</p>
<p>The VCGLR approves poker machine licences if it <a href="http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/gra2003190/s3.3.7.html">considers</a> the “net economic and social impact of approval will not be detrimental to the well-being of the community”. This “<a href="https://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/key_factors_in_deciding_egm_applications_-_2019_1.pdf">no net detriment test</a>” involves a guesstimate of potential costs and benefits in relation to a proposal’s overall community impact.</p>
<p>The premise is that harm can be absorbed into benefits to serve the community as a whole – the majority of people. It’s a utilitarian approach to gambling policy that implies social harm can be costed. This means the nation’s joy of gambling can outweigh vulnerable people’s misery.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-flashing-lights-and-catchy-tunes-make-gamblers-take-more-risks-105852">How flashing lights and catchy tunes make gamblers take more risks</a>
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<p>Essentially, the VCGLR’s task is (indirectly) to estimate “how many happy gamblers does it take to make up for suicide, bankruptcy, domestic violence?”. All these <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/the-social-cost-of-gambling-to-victoria-121/">social harms</a> have been <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/assessing-gambling-related-harm-in-victoria-a-public-health-perspective-69">associated with gambling</a>. </p>
<p>This is crudely put, but it’s the social contract we enter into when accepting a cost-benefit approach to gambling policy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/areas-with-more-poker-machines-have-higher-rates-of-domestic-violence-66982">Areas with more poker machines have higher rates of domestic violence</a>
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<p>Apart from the ethical dilemma involved here, the cost-benefit approach to assessing poker-machine applications is highly problematic for local councils. </p>
<p>Social harm is notoriously difficult to cost. That makes it difficult to argue and easier to dismiss. The concerns that are most important to local communities cannot effectively be tabled on the regulatory agenda. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-pokie-operators-are-not-nearly-as-charitable-as-they-claim-124085">New research shows pokie operators are not nearly as charitable as they claim</a>
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<h2>The utilitarian approach is harmful</h2>
<p>Victoria’s regulatory system keeps the public debate focused on utility. The ethical basis of poker machines is neither addressed nor debated. </p>
<p>Getting better at costing gambling harm is not going to solve this problem for local councils. An assessment of utility implies the most vulnerable or disadvantaged members of a community must accept the harm burden of gambling so others can have more in the form the freedom to gamble and redistributed benefits - for example through state taxes derived from foker machine gambling. </p>
<p>Most of these poker machine taxes are drawn from these lower socio-economic areas. The inferior social and economic infrastructure of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">disadvantaged areas</a> where <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1016847305942">pokies tend to be concentrated</a> adds to the injustice. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">Who wins from 'Big Gambling' in Australia?</a>
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<p>The broad distribution of poker machines and associated <a href="https://theconversation.com/pokies-sport-and-racing-harm-41-of-monthly-gamblers-survey-81486">high levels of harm</a> are evidence of the failure of this cost-benefit approach. Regulatory decision-making isn’t properly assessing the real cost and harm poker machines cause. </p>
<p>The current approach fails to give enough weight to local concerns and meaningful participation and representation. As a result, the system falls short of meeting public expectations of fair and just regulation.</p>
<p>If councils and communities are to get a fairer go, a different policy approach is needed. It needs to be able to better consider the impacts of poker machines on local communities and social justice more generally. It’s time to rethink the use of cost-benefit analysis as the basis for gambling policy - and social policy more broadly. </p>
<p>Gaming regulation across Australia currently protects a very fragile justification for poker machines as legitimate social and economic infrastructure. It serves the gambling industry and state interests better than the well-being of local communities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/vital-signs-why-governments-get-addicted-to-smoking-gambling-and-other-vices-115254">Vital Signs: why governments get addicted to smoking, gambling and other vices</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mette Hotker does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How many happy gamblers, jobs and profits does it take to make up for the suicides, bankruptcies and domestic violence? Regulators must make cost-benefit guesstimates when considering applications.Mette Hotker, Lecturer in Social Planning, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1268382019-11-15T04:13:07Z2019-11-15T04:13:07ZPlace your bets: will banning illegal offshore sites really help kick our gambling habit?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301886/original/file-20191115-47184-1g3lekj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=83%2C92%2C5516%2C4099&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While total gambling spending in Australia decreased during 2016-17, sports betting increased by 15.3%, from A$921 million to A$1.062 billion.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">SHUTTERSTOCK</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-11/illegal-offshore-gambling-websites-to-be-blocked-government/11691044">going to start</a> asking internet service providers to block certain offshore gambling websites. </p>
<p>The decision follows former New South Wales premier Barry O’Farrell’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/government-ignores-elephant-in-the-room-in-response-to-online-gambling-review-52751">2016 review</a> of the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00070">Interactive Gambling Act</a>, which suggested banning access to sites not licensed in Australia. </p>
<p>The review focused on the dangers of these “illegal” sites. The concern was that they didn’t offer consumers the same protection given by gambling businesses licensed in Australia. </p>
<p>In 2017, the federal government <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017A00085">empowered ACMA</a> to block such sites, and prohibit online advertising promoting them.</p>
<h2>The wild, unregulated internet</h2>
<p>The perceived problem with offshore gambling sites is that they’re not regulated according to Australian standards. Also, they don’t pay tax in Australia. Federal cyber safety minister Paul Fletcher <a href="https://www.paulfletcher.com.au/media-releases/media-release-taking-action-against-illegal-offshore-gambling-websites">claims</a> this results in A$100 million in lost tax each year.</p>
<p>The Interactive Gambling Act also prohibits Australia’s online gambling providers offering any form of gambling apart from wagering or lottery sales. But on the internet, casino-style games, poker, and slot machines are readily available from offshore providers. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/education-not-restriction-is-key-to-reducing-harm-from-offshore-gambling-100516">Education, not restriction, is key to reducing harm from offshore gambling</a>
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<p>However, the extent to which online gambling via offshore sites is a problem may be altogether exaggerated. </p>
<p>At the time of the O'Farrell review, A$400 million was being wagered on offshore sites by Australians, at most. Given Aussies lost about A$22 billion to gambling in 2015, that represented less than 2% of the gambling market. </p>
<p>Most gambling losses are from poker machines. During 2016-17, more than <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/2646/australian-gambling-statistics-34th-edn-1991-92-2016-17-summary-tables.xlsx">A$12 billion was lost on pokies</a>. This made up just over half of that period’s total losses of A$23.7 billion, compared to A$1 billion lost on sports betting and A$3.3 billion lost on race wagering. </p>
<p>In addition, the <a href="https://www.responsiblegambling.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/280537/NSW-Gambling-Survey-2019-Full-Report.PDF">2019 survey of gambling activity in NSW</a> indicated about 0.5% of the population used casino games on the internet, and about 0.3% bet on online poker. </p>
<p>Neither of these are legally available online in Australia. This indicates the population actually using offshore providers may be very small. </p>
<h2>It’s whack-a-mole, but not a hands-on solution</h2>
<p>In any event, attempting to block access to internet sites is problematic. It requires cooperation with (<a href="https://www.itnews.com.au/news/acma-to-force-isps-to-block-illegal-offshore-gambling-sites-533760">or coercion of</a>) Internet Service Providers. </p>
<p>Sites needing to be blocked must first be identified, and specific technical information must be provided to ISPs to facilitate the block. Meanwhile, those running the site can change its name or move domains, and start where they left off. It’s essentially a game of whack-a-mole. </p>
<p>That said, this doesn’t mean it can’t be done. The <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/law-enforcement-implications-of-illegal-online-gambling">United States has prosecuted</a> multiple offshore gambling providers for breaching its internet gambling ban. But enforcing such a ban chews up precious resources.</p>
<h2>The problems lie with us</h2>
<p>Most of <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people/programmes-services/gambling/review-of-illegal-offshore-wagering">O'Farrell’s recommendations</a> were concerned with improving consumer protection regulations for Australian sites, and <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/11_2018/national-policy-statement.pdf">developing and then persuading the states</a> to agree to these.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/action-on-problem-gambling-online-is-a-good-first-step-but-no-silver-bullet-76857">Action on problem gambling online is a good first step, but no silver bullet</a>
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<p>At the time, more harm was being inflicted by Australian registered wagering companies than offshore sites. This is probably still the case. <a href="https://www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/docs/duds-mugs-and-the-a-list-the-impact-of-uncontrolled-sportsbetting/">Financial Counselling Australia</a> pointed this out in great detail prior to the O'Farrell review, as did <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-gambling-review-should-not-ignore-the-problems-in-our-own-backyard-47155">others</a>. </p>
<p>The recommendations have now been largely adopted. The states have reformed taxation arrangements for Australian licensed bookmakers, imposing <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/new-online-betting-taxes-to-squeeze-foreign-bookies-20181231-p50oxv.html">point-of-consumption taxes</a>. This means the gambling tax on bookies is imposed in the state where the bet is placed, rather than where it’s licensed. </p>
<p>This makes allowance for the fact that, although most online Australian bookmakers are licensed in the Northern Territory, most of their business comes from other states. Bookies prefer the Northern Territory because of its low tax regime, which collects only A$7 million out of A$2 billion in wagering losses, less than <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/2646/australian-gambling-statistics-34th-edn-1991-92-2016-17-state-tables.xlsx">4% of revenue</a>. </p>
<p>It has also had a traditionally relaxed approach to regulation, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/sportsbet-ordered-to-pay-winnings-on-unfairly-cancelled-afl-bets-20191031-p536bt.html">although this may be changing</a>.</p>
<h2>Marketing drives gambling</h2>
<p>There’s little doubt <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/money/online-sports-betting-is-creating-a-new-generation-of-problem-gamblers-20170918-gyjlc3.html">online</a> gambling (done offshore or domestically) causes <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/assessing-gambling-related-harm-in-victoria-a-public-health-perspective-69/">significant</a> <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/weighing-up-the-odds-young-men-sports-and-betting-394/">harm</a>. It has the potential to cause even more, as an increasing number of people are attracted by bookies’ advertisements. </p>
<p>Gambling companies sponsor sports and sporting teams around Australia, with their logos prominent on sports uniforms, on the field, and on memorabilia. The recent Melbourne Cup carnival was a case in point, as are football finals, the Australian Open, and most other major sporting events.</p>
<p>While some people bet online with providers not licensed in Australia, there are still myriad online Australian betting sites available. Website <a href="https://www.sportsbetting.com.au/">Sportsbetting</a> grew by an average of just under <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/issues/2646/australian-gambling-statistics-34th-edn-1991-92-2016-17-product-tables.xlsx">20% per year (adjusted for inflation) between 2011 and 2017</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pokies-sport-and-racing-harm-41-of-monthly-gamblers-survey-81486">Pokies, sport and racing harm 41% of monthly gamblers: survey</a>
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<p>The submission of the <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/documents/11/submission-impact-illegal-offshore-wagering.pdf">Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation</a> to the O'Farrell review in 2016 argued growth in online gambling was almost certainly fuelled by intense advertising by bookmakers.</p>
<h2>We need to re-focus</h2>
<p>If we were genuinely concerned about reducing gambling harm, an important step would be to ban or further restrict bookmakers’ advertising capacity.</p>
<p>Currently, “whistle to whistle” bans (five minutes before commencement of play, and until five minutes after play concludes) are in effect for football and other short broadcasts, courtesy of a <a href="https://www.freetv.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Free_TV_Commercial_Television_Industry_Code_of_Practice_2018.pdf">self-regulatory code</a>. </p>
<p>After 8.30pm, however, gambling advertising is permitted and plenty of young people are still watching at this time, being <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/resources/publications/extent-of-and-children-and-young-peoples-exposure-to-gambling-advertising-in-sport-and-non-sport-tv-679/">bombarded with bookies’ ads</a>.</p>
<p>There are also numerous exemptions for advertising during “long form” sports such as cricket, and for racing broadcasts. </p>
<p>As we’ve learned from <a href="https://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/enforce/en/">tobacco</a>, our next step towards gambling harm prevention would be to prohibit advertising and sponsorship. That is, if we really do want to prevent harm.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens.</span></em></p>Banning offshore gambling sites sounds sensible enough, and the federal government is planning to do this. But to what extent are these sites really ripping off Australian gamblers?Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/968282018-05-18T12:40:25Z2018-05-18T12:40:25ZFixed-odds betting terminal cap must be just the start of gambling regulation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219554/original/file-20180518-42230-19efjl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fixed-odds betting terminals have been called the 'crack cocaine' of gambling.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/287164913">massimofusar/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The maximum stakes permitted on fixed-odds betting terminals in the UK is to be cut <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/may/17/maximum-stake-for-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-cut-to-2">from £100 to £2</a>, following years of campaigning for the change in the face of gambling industry lobbying. Those who campaigned hardest for greater protection for users of the machines such as the <a href="http://fairergambling.org/">Campaign For Fairer Gambling</a> will be pleased by the UK government’s decision, but the loudest cheers will come from people like <a href="https://twitter.com/gamblinghurts?lang=en">Tony Franklin</a> who have suffered terribly because of decisions taken by British governments – of all stripes and over many years – that allowed high-stakes electronic gambling to enter the previously low-stakes world of high street betting shops.</p>
<p>I’ve been among those arguing for the maximum stakes to be reduced, in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/707763/drive-download-20180514T173730Z-001.zip">many government consultations on the issue</a>, and I’m glad that common sense has prevailed at last. But the decision to cut maximum stakes leaves other problems still to be tackled – and these go to the heart of gambling policy. The government’s announcement shows they have yet to come to grips with a powerful industry which lobbies hard for self-regulation.</p>
<p>Fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) were introduced around 2000, and it soon became apparent that they were used differently from the fruit machines that they replaced. A tax change in 2001 had enabled bookies to create digitised, virtual games of roulette and allow punters to bet on the outcome of each spin, as they would on the outcome of a horserace. The vital difference is that while a horserace takes place a few times each hour at a track – or every few minutes, if you beam action from around the world into the betting shop – each spin of a digital roulette real on an FOBTs takes 20 seconds, quicker even than the real thing.</p>
<p>Not every bookmaker expected FOBTs to be popular – some were taken by surprise when their profits outstripped over-the-counter betting. This was less <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Addiction-Design-Machine-Gambling-Vegas/dp/0691160880">“Addiction by Design”</a> and more a flotation device for betting shops, which had been struggling to find new customers as the older generation of punters betting on horses and dogs were not replaced. Some bookies did not expect the machines to survive as long as they have in their current, high-stakes, high-frequency form. One said to me recently that the only real surprise is that it took the government so long to act.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=840&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/219556/original/file-20180518-42210-t2343y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1056&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Digital betting terminals can serve up bets quicker than the real thing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/london-uk-mar-5-2018-mature-1039609732">Alexandre Rotenberg/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But is it really a surprise?</p>
<h2>Industry influence</h2>
<p>As I’ve <a href="https://www.gold.ac.uk/media/documents-by-section/departments/anthropology/Fair-Game-Web-Final.pdf">written elsewhere</a>, much of the evidence on which policy decisions in the UK are nominally based is acknowledged to be limited – compromised by the involvement of industry that not only funds research but also can control access to data.</p>
<p>If we want policy makers to make timely, well-informed decisions about gambling we need better data, and more of it. That can only come from a strong research culture, supported by a data sharing agreement and an independent commissioner.</p>
<p>Who might take on this key role? The Gambling Commission, which <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/19/gambling-regulator-urges-government-to-cut-fobt-stakes-to-30">did not recommend a reduction to £2</a>, has both a duty to permit gambling and also a duty to consider the impact of its activities on economic growth. It is telling that gambling policy in the UK is determined by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In New Zealand, by contrast, gambling policy is a matter for the Department of Health.</p>
<p>While the cap on stakes has been broadly welcomed, the government’s announcement of “a major multi-million pound advertising campaign promoting responsible gambling”, supported by industry and GambleAware, has raised eyebrows. What made the government decide that this was the best way to educate people about the harm caused by gambling? Or even a good idea?</p>
<h2>Legislators must arm themselves with evidence</h2>
<p>Unsurprisingly, the international evidence does not support the idea that industries producing harmful products are best placed to <a href="https://epublications.marquette.edu/comm_fac/337/">communicate their risks</a>. On the contrary, we know that these campaigns are often tactics for <a href="http://jech.bmj.com/content/early/2017/09/29/jech-2017-209710">delaying the imposition of meaningful regulation</a>.</p>
<p>The government also announced that the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling has amended its <a href="http://igrg.org.uk/wp/industry-advertising-code/">code</a> to ensure that a responsible gambling message will appear for the duration of all TV adverts.</p>
<p>In Australia, gambling advertising during broadcasts of live sports has been banned before the watershed precisely due to concerns that children will <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1753-6405.12564">associate betting with sport</a>. Yet in the UK, the government has chosen to accept industry promises to add warnings to adverts, even though evidence from alcohol advertising suggests that responsible drinking messages may in certain contexts actually <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25577316">increase alcohol consumption</a>.</p>
<p>All this points to UK gambling policy continuing along a path of compromise. As other nations move to a public health approach that recognises that the harm caused by gambling is <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/assessing-gambling-related-harm-victoria-public-health-perspective/">not restricted to the gambler alone, or to their mental health</a>, the British government remains rooted to the model of “promoting responsible gambling” – part of what DCMS minister Tracey Crouch has called “<a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-cut-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-maximum-stake-from-100-to-2">a healthy gambling industry that contributes to the economy</a>”.</p>
<p>Until we have more independent research about the effects of gambling, any attempt to change the rules in order to protect people from harm will take years. We need a compulsory levy and no more horse-trading with industry. GambleAware, the charity responsible for funding research into gambling, must be reformed – and at the very least not have <a href="https://about.gambleaware.org/about/trustees-and-management/">industry representatives on its board</a>.</p>
<p>The delay to the cap in betting stakes – arriving five years late due to the lack of evidence that FOBTs “cause” problem gambling (itself a gigantic <a href="https://gamblingacrossborders.wordpress.com/2015/01/16/the-ghost-in-the-machine/">red herring</a>) – has cost people not just their money, but their homes, their relationships, their jobs and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/19/gambling-life-fixed-odds-betting-terminals-maximum-stake-addicts">even their lives</a>. If it is evidence-based policy that governments claim to aim for, then they must ask where that research will come from in future – and if it is worth the paper it is written on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/96828/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassidy was funded by the European Research Council, grant number 263433, between 2010 and 2015. Between 2006 and 2009 she received £90,697.22 from ‘Research into Problem Gambling’, a collaborative research initiative between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (lead organisation) and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RiGT), (now GambleAware). All aspects of the grant were administered by the ESRC. Between 2007 and 2009 she received ad hoc support from the National Lottery Commission for the Gambling Research Network, a group of early career and PhD researchers coming together in London two or three times a year. Money covered refreshments and no explicit restrictions or inducements were placed on the group by the NLC. Since 2015, she has had her travel expenses to speak at an international conference paid for by the Alberta Gambling Research Institute, an organisation that is funded by the provincial government of Alberta, and by the New Zealand Problem Gambling Foundation and The Gambling and Addictions Research Centre at AUT University. She has also received support from the British Academy and Edinburgh University. She has paid to attend industry-sponsored events and attended free, industry-supported events in order to conduct anthropological fieldwork. </span></em></p>That the government has finally moved to limit the damage is welcome, but there is much still to do.Rebecca Cassidy, Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/920382018-02-20T23:22:22Z2018-02-20T23:22:22Z‘No pokies’ Xenophon goes for ‘some pokies’, but does his gambling policy go far enough?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207017/original/file-20180219-116327-1xls5ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The evidence behind Nick Xenophon's proposed gambling reforms in South Australia is reasonably strong. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Morgan Sette</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>SA-Best, led by high-profile former senator Nick Xenophon, has announced its <a href="https://sabest.org.au/media/sa-best-gambling-reform-policies-will-dramatically-reduce-pokies-addiction-and-community-harm/">gambling policy</a> ahead of next month’s South Australian election. Xenophon has backed away from the “no pokies” policy that characterised his earlier approach to gambling reform. However, the evidence behind his party’s proposed suite of measures is reasonably strong. </p>
<h2>What’s in the policy?</h2>
<p>Key aspects of SA-Best’s proposal are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>a five-year plan to cut poker machines numbers in South Australia from 12,100 to 8,100;</p></li>
<li><p>a reduction in maximum bets to A$1, from the current $5;</p></li>
<li><p>a reduction in maximum prizes from $10,000 to $500;</p></li>
<li><p>removing particularly addictive features such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/poker-machines-and-the-law-when-is-a-win-not-a-win-49580">“losses disguised as wins”</a>;</p></li>
<li><p>prohibition of political donations from gambling businesses; and</p></li>
<li><p>the removal of EFTPOS facilities from gambling venues.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The policy would also empower the state’s <a href="http://iga.sa.gov.au/">Independent Gambling Authority</a> to implement and evaluate these proposals. </p>
<p>The policy is targeted at commercial hotel operators; clubs, “community hotels” and the casino are exempt from the reduction provisions. </p>
<p>There are also proposals to cut trading hours from 18 to 16 per day, with the introduction of a seven-year pokie licence for venues, from January 1, 2019. Increased resources would go to counselling and support for those with gambling problems.</p>
<p>Notably absent from the policy is the introduction of a <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/sites/default/files/publication-documents/agrc-precommitment-limit-setting.pdf">pre-commitment</a> system, which would enable pokie users to decide in advance how much they want to spend. Along with $1 maximum bets, this was a key recommendation of a <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report">Productivity Commission inquiry</a> in 2010.</p>
<p>The policy has attracted the <a href="https://www.theshout.com.au/australian-hotelier/xenophons-gaming-policy-blasted-aha-sa/">expected response</a> from the gambling industry. The Australian Hotels Association argued the changes would “rip the guts” out of the gambling industry and attack the “26,000 jobs” it claims the industry directly creates.</p>
<h2>Does evidence support SA Best’s policies?</h2>
<p>We’ve known for some time that <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-1-maximum-bet-on-pokies-would-reduce-gambling-harm-22931">reducing maximum bets</a> is likely to reduce the amount wagered by people experiencing severe gambling problems. This in turn reduces the harm they suffer.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-1-maximum-bet-on-pokies-would-reduce-gambling-harm-22931">A $1 maximum bet on pokies would reduce gambling harm</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Reducing maximum prizes reduces “<a href="https://aifs.gov.au/agrc/publications/how-electronic-gambling-machines-work/structural-characteristics-egms">volatility</a>”, meaning pokies may have more consistent loss rates.</p>
<p>Reducing access to pokies is also an important intervention, since easy access is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-close-to-home-people-who-live-near-pokie-venues-at-risk-20771">key risk factor</a> for developing a gambling problem. Reducing the number of machines, and the hours they are accessible, support this. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/too-close-to-home-people-who-live-near-pokie-venues-at-risk-20771">Too close to home: people who live near pokie venues at risk</a>
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</em>
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<p>However, <a href="https://www.adelaide.edu.au/saces/docs/study-of-the-impact-of-caps-on-electronic-gaming-machines.pdf">very substantial cuts in pokie numbers</a> are needed to meaningfully reduce harm. A cut of the magnitude SA-Best proposes may not be sufficient to prevent those with serious gambling habits from readily accessing pokies. This is because pokies are rarely fully utilised at all times of the week.</p>
<p>Removing <a href="https://www.responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/26881/Thomas-A-Evaluation-of-the-removal-of-ATMs-Victoria-Sept-2013.pdf">easy access to cash</a> has also been identified as an important harm-reduction intervention. This had a positive initial effect in Victoria (especially among high-risk gamblers), when ATMs were removed from pokie venues in 2012.</p>
<p>The harms associated with gambling generally affect <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14459795.2017.1331252?journalCode=rigs20">far more people</a> than just the gambler. The <a href="http://www.problemgambling.sa.gov.au/professionals/news_and_events/news-items/release-of-the-2012-gambling-prevalence-study-in-south-australia?a=13625">most recent study</a>, from 2012 indicates that 0.6% of the SA adult population is classified as at high risk of gambling harm, 2.5% are classified as at moderate risk, and another 7.1% at low risk.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/4?opendocument">census data</a>, this equates to about 8,000 South Australians experiencing severe harm from gambling. Another 33,100 are experiencing significant harm, and about 94,000 are experiencing some harm.</p>
<p>However, each high-risk gambler affects six others; each moderate-risk gambler affects three others; and each low-risk gambler one other. So, the problems of each high-risk gambler affect another 47,660 South Australians. These are children, spouses, other relatives, friends, employers, the general community via the costs of crime, and so on. </p>
<p>Another 99,300 are affected by moderate-risk gambling, and another 94,000 by low-risk gambling. All up, this amounts to 241,000 people.</p>
<p>Of these, 190,000 are affected at high or significant levels. <a href="http://www.responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/28465/Browne_assessing_gambling-related_harm_in_Vic_Apr_2016-REPLACEMENT2.pdf">These harms include</a> financial disaster and bankruptcy, divorce or separation, neglect of children, intimate partner violence and other violent crime, crimes against property, mental and physical ill-health, and in some cases, suicide.</p>
<p>Most gambling problems (around 75%) <a href="https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report/gambling-report-volume1.pdf">are related to pokies</a>, and by far the greatest expenditure goes through them. Nothing has changed in this regard since the Productivity Commission identified this in 2010.</p>
<p>In this context, SA-Best’s policy has substantial justification.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/removing-pokies-from-tasmanias-clubs-and-pubs-would-help-gamblers-without-hurting-the-economy-90019">Removing pokies from Tasmania's clubs and pubs would help gamblers without hurting the economy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Does it go far enough?</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-20/greens-target-xenophon-with-policy-to-ban-pokies-angering-hotels/9344960">South Australian Greens</a>, like their <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-16/greens-to-force-tas-labor-hand-on-pokies-policy/9055102">counterparts in Tasmania</a> and the Tasmanian Labor Party, want to get all pokies out of pubs and clubs. They argue gambling’s social and economic costs are far in excess of the benefits. </p>
<p>For Tasmania, the costs of gambling can be estimated at about <a href="http://www.tai.org.au/content/estimating-revenue-share-farrell-group-and-other-gambling-industry-participants-gambling">$342 million per year</a>. This is more than three times as much as the total tax take from all gambling in the state.</p>
<p>A similar calculation for South Australia suggests its overall costs of problem gambling are more than $1.6 billion per year. This is more than four times the total taxes from gambling the South Australian government <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/aus-gambling-stats/">derived in 2015-16</a> ($380.3 million).</p>
<p>With a cost-benefit ratio like that, some strong measures could well be called for. Xenophon says the proposals encapsulated in his party’s policy are the start. However, Tasmanian Labor has set the new benchmark for pokie regulation – removing them entirely from pubs and clubs.</p>
<p>It is remarkable that a party traditionally in lockstep with – and <a href="https://theconversation.com/gambling-lobby-gives-big-to-political-parties-and-names-names-73131">substantially supported by</a> – the gambling industry has adopted such a position. Perhaps the harms have become too much to ignore?</p>
<p>How these policies might be implemented, amid the resistance they will face from a well-heeled and <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">often-influential</a> gambling industry, presents an intriguing prospect over coming months.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92038/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens.</span></em></p>Nick Xenophon says the proposals encapsulated in his party’s gambling policy for the South Australian election are just the start of a wider push for reform.Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/776632017-05-17T15:09:00Z2017-05-17T15:09:00ZGambling’s ‘crack cocaine’ is devastating lives and not doing much for the economy either<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169785/original/file-20170517-6030-1ozw6dc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/luck-word-on-slot-machine-vector-560811694">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Since 2008, UK gamblers have squandered £11.4 billion playing games such as poker and roulette on <a href="http://www.itv.com/news/2016-12-13/what-are-fixed-odds-betting-terminals/">fixed-odds betting terminals</a> (FOBTs). These sophisticated gaming machines, often referred to as the “crack cocaine” of gambling, are to be found in high street bookies and casinos across Britain, allowing people to bet up to £100 every 20 seconds.</p>
<p>Not only is this helping to create a huge swell in problem gambling, it is also affecting the economy, because this spend has little ripple effect, flowing directly into relatively few pockets without generating a significant number of jobs.</p>
<p>Hounslow in south-west London huddles directly beneath the planes taking off and landing at Heathrow airport. A comparatively poor area of the capital, 20% of the local population earns less than the living wage. Hounslow’s high street contains 11 bookmakers, each with four FOBTs, and each of those has a maximum gambling stake of £100. In 2015, on this one street, <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/street-28million-lost-year-crack-7325541">£2.8m was lost to FOBTs</a>, according to the <a href="http://fairergambling.org/">Campaign for Responsible Gambling</a>.</p>
<p>Anyone walking through their local town centre will see the number of betting shops has mushroomed, often with “cash converter” type shops nearby, where people can exchange goods for money. As of March 2015, there were 34,884 FOBT gaming machines around the UK providing bookmakers with a gross gambling yield (the percentage of a bet kept by the operator) of <a href="http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06946/SN06946.pdf">£1.7 billion</a> in 2016.</p>
<h2>Problem gambling</h2>
<p><a href="http://live-gamblecom.cloud.contensis.com/PDF/survey-data/Gambling-participation-in-2016-behaviour-awareness-and-attitudes.pdf">Research</a> shows that the number of people in the UK with a gambling problem is rising. Around 500,000 Britons are experiencing difficulties – categorised as either “problem” or “at risk” gamblers – with numbers increasing every year.</p>
<p>And for each gambler there can be up to five close family members <a href="http://usir.salford.ac.uk/2335/1/Gambling_and_Debt_Final_Report_PDF.pdf">also affected</a> through issues such as unmanageable debt, homelessness, hunger, domestic violence or having a parent or spouse in prison. Damage is not limited to families either; a significant proportion of problem gamblers commit crime such as theft and fraud to fund their habits, with some <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/31/ex-manager-olympian-greg-rutherford-admits-defrauding-athlete/">high-profile cases</a> hitting the headlines each year.</p>
<p>In the UK, <a href="https://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/gambling/m39.htm">research</a> shows that poorer people are more likely to develop a problem gambling habit. Data collected by the Campaign for Responsible Gambling reveals that betting shops with FOBT machines have expanded most in <a href="http://fairergambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-Economic-Impact-of-Fixed-Odds-Betting-Terminals-20151.pdf">poorer areas</a>, suggesting that action needs to be taken to limit the opportunities for people to experience heavy losses in the midst of their communities.</p>
<p>Although only 3-4% of adults use these machines, FOBT players account for <a href="http://fairergambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-Economic-Impact-of-Fixed-Odds-Betting-Terminals-20151.pdf">66% of all gambling losses</a>. In 2015, the government rejected an attempt led by Newham Council to reduce the maximum stake from £100 to <a href="https://www.popall.co.uk/news-publications/news/government-rejects-2-cap-for-fobt-stake-limits">£2 per play</a>.</p>
<p>The wider economic impact of gambling is poorly understood because at present the only data considered are gross gambling yield, jobs and profits in the industry – plus government revenue from betting duty and taxation.</p>
<p>Taken together, these present an encouraging picture with the industry claiming betting shops contribute £3.2 billion to UK GDP, with between 55,000 people directly employed in betting shops, 100,000 jobs supported in the wider economy and around <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/24892">£1 billion paid in taxes each year</a>.</p>
<p>But this is not the full picture. Contrasting <a href="http://fairergambling.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-Economic-Impact-of-Fixed-Odds-Betting-Terminals-20151.pdf">research</a> by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling shows money spent on FOBTs does not support much in terms of jobs compared with spending in other sectors of the economy – while £1 billion of general consumer spending supports 21,000 jobs, £1 billion of spending on FOBTs only supports the equivalent of 4,500 jobs. </p>
<h2>The real cost to communities</h2>
<p>The problem with weighing up these competing claims is that no independent evaluation of costs and benefits has been developed and conducted in the UK. A more accurate calculation would need to include the social costs of gambling to affected families and communities, such as rehousing families who have lost their home to gambling debt, and the costs to the criminal justice system resulting from crime arising from problem gambling.</p>
<p>To develop an effective measure of the real costs of gambling, independent research will be needed. In the UK, the gambling industry funds research, education and treatment of problem gambling under the principle of the “<a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=1nFowsqApQAC&pg=RA1-PA175&lpg=RA1-PA175&dq=polluter+pays+principle+gambling&source=bl&ots=X49v7kzEVA&sig=-WS3ypP92e6kTdVPj8UN7SW_3Ho&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi8_7DPifLTAhUlLcAKHYBdAesQ6AEILzAA#v=onepage&q=polluter%20pays%20principle%20gambling&f=false">polluter pays</a>”, and most of the £7m raised annually from the industry is spent on treatment.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/169789/original/file-20170517-9937-1apx59h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fixed-odds betting terminals, on which punters can blow £100 every 20 seconds, are leading to a rise in problem gambling.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/online-gambling-579663841">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a <a href="https://research.gold.ac.uk/17217/1/Fair%20game%20Producing%20and%20publishing%20gambling%20research.pdf">project</a> led by Goldsmiths University found, the UK funding programme for gambling research prioritises “banal” research questions that will not offend the gambling industry, with funded research often conducted by private companies or academics that have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jan/06/documents-reveal-gambling-charity-chair-conflict-of-interest">close ties</a> to the industry.</p>
<p>Similarly, Tim Farron MP has raised concerns about the close relationship the industry has with <a href="https://www.begambleaware.org/">GambleAware</a> (previously known as the Responsible Gambling Trust) which manages the funds provided by the industry to pay for research about problem gambling, education to prevent problem gambling, and treatment for problem gamblers.</p>
<p>The Charity Commission was also asked to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-leading-gambling-charity-at-centre-of-conflict-of-interest-claims-a6885271.html">investigate allegations</a> that large research contracts were being awarded to companies with close links to senior staff at the Responsible Gambling Trust and that senior posts within it were filled without a competitive process. At the time, the Responsible Gambling Trust responded: “The Responsible Gambling Trust has robust procedures in place and we are a fully independent charity committed to minimising gambling-related harm.”</p>
<p>It also added later: “The Charity Commission dismissed as ‘unsubstantiated’ complaints about the Responsible Gambling Trust made by two lobbying groups – the Campaign for Fairer Gambling and Rethink Gambling. Correspondence from the Charity Commission, published on our website, confirms that potential ‘conflict of interest within the charity is well managed and recorded’.”</p>
<p>The whole notion of problem gambling separates and “individualises” consumers, suggesting they make a free choice to spend their leisure time and money as they wish. But, as the data on spending indicates, this is not an individual problem; it is a social problem causing real harm to individuals, to families, to communities and to the economy.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the extent of that harm is not understood by society or policy makers because very little research is being carried out, and what research is being undertaken is focusing on the wrong topics. As the Charity Commission investigation proves, there is a potential conflict of interest between the people allocating research funds and the industry providing the money for the research.</p>
<p>A radical review of the impact of gambling, its social costs and benefits and the funding and governance structures that underpin research, education and treatment is urgently needed. But since the government’s review of FOBTs was shelved when the snap election was called, it’s not worth betting that this will happen any time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77663/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carolyn Downs has received funding from European Union, National Debtline and Gamcare. She is a member of Labour Party.
</span></em></p>For some people, fixed-odds betting terminals are ferociously addictive, producing big profits for bookies and a rise in problem gambling. What’s the solution?Carolyn Downs, Lecturer in Leadership and Management, Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/777812017-05-16T01:07:36Z2017-05-16T01:07:36ZBanning early evening gaming ads on TV is like being ‘a little bit pregnant’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/169417/original/file-20170516-7001-shlrmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While gaming advertising will be banned before 8.30pm, the ban doesn't extend to perimeter advertising or on-air mentions of betting odds.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/438222940?src=FHwp_8Ad-sdzoX-154CHkg-1-0&size=medium_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Early this month, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made his family friendly announcement that advertising for gaming, including sports betting, would be banned from television and radio <a href="http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/media/turnbull-announces-plan-to-restrict-tv-gambling-ads-to-protect-kids/news-story/d7f9134e6d44f2db1c227674c0f10fe3">before 8.30pm</a> each night, plainly a message about reducing exposure to children. </p>
<p>The “siren to siren” ban, which will cover all sports broadcasts on TV and radio except racing, will start five minutes before matches start and end five minutes after full time.</p>
<p>We don’t know when this will start, but you can probably get low odds somewhere on implementation taking as long as possible.</p>
<p>Just as you can’t be “a little bit pregnant”, you can’t have a partial ban.</p>
<p>Turnbull’s announcement said nothing about on-ground and perimeter advertising, TV commentators and their guests mentioning betting odds or the many sneaky ways direct advertising bans were subverted by the masters of the art, Big Tobacco.</p>
<h2>No kid watches sport after 8.30pm, right?</h2>
<p>Just take a nanosecond to think about what has been promised. Yes, the policy will take direct advertising of gambling out of pre-8.30pm sport. But last time I looked, the State of Origin, all day/night cricket, major world events like the World Cup and the Olympic Games, and Grand Prix events all run well after 8.30pm.</p>
<p>While most seven-year-olds may be tucked in bed before 8.30pm, many older kids stay up much later. So picture the living rooms across Australia as armies of parents say to their 12-year-olds, “Look I know it’s the decider State of Origin match and the game kicked-off only 15 minutes ago, but the TV is going off now because the betting ads are starting up in a minute.”</p>
<p>That’s just certain to work very, very well. Perhaps exactly as well as the gaming industry’s public support for the package would predict.</p>
<p>Former Labor front bencher Stephen Conroy, now with <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-powerbroker-stephen-conroy-joins-new-gambling-lobby-20161207-gt6391.html">Responsible Wagering Australia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyNewsAust/status/860699847178960897">told Sky News</a> that Sports Bet “absolutely welcomed” the new package. </p>
<p>This should set cynicism meters off the dial. If this move had even the remotest chance of having any impact on the betting industry’s bottom lines, it would fight it tooth and claw, in the way we saw with tobacco plain packaging.</p>
<h2>Gamble responsibly</h2>
<p>The relentless TV betting ad postscripts that remind us to “always gamble responsibly” are as sincere as Big Tobacco urging smokers to smoke lightly. </p>
<p>The 2010 <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report">Productivity Commission report</a> on gambling in Australia estimated that problem gamblers contributed about 40% of gaming revenue via poker machines. The report identified about 115,000 Australians as “problem gamblers” with a further 280,000 people at “moderate risk” of being a problem gambler.</p>
<p>There is no definitive national estimate of how common problem gambling is among people who bet on sports. But a <a href="http://www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/846901/2014-Survey-on-Gambling,-Health-and-Wellbeing-in-the-ACT-.pdf">2014 study</a> in the ACT indicated rates of problem gambling among internet gamblers were three times greater than for gamblers in general and on a par with rates for people gambling on poker machines or on racing.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that problem gamblers are the backbone of the gaming industry’s fortunes. The industry would be devastated if these fortunes somehow dried up.</p>
<h2>Incremental tobacco advertising bans</h2>
<p>The history of restricting tobacco advertising is likely to point to what’s ahead in reforms on how gambling promotion.</p>
<p>The last time a direct tobacco advertisement was seen or heard on Australian TV or radio was in August 1976. The Whitlam government introduced the policy, which was continued by the Fraser government. Direct cigarette advertising on radio and television was phased out over the three years between September 1, 1973 and September 1, 1976.</p>
<p>The decision was framed as a way of reducing the exposure of children to tobacco advertising. Obviously, the proposition was that kids were a prime target for tobacco companies and their advertising was a powerful way of conditioning interest in smoking in young people.</p>
<p>So, direct tobacco ads on TV and radio could help kids take up smoking. But the very same appeals in ads in print, on billboards, in shops and as sporting and cultural sponsorship apparently could not. This was the bizarre logic in governments at the time banning tobacco advertising in only selected media, but not across the board.</p>
<p>As ordinary commonsense and research highlighted the inanity of this policy, governments incrementally increased the number of media where cigarette ad bans applied. It took from September 1973 until April, 30 1996 (when tobacco sponsorship of cricket finally ended) for all forms of tobacco advertising and promotion to <a href="http://www.tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chapter-11-advertising/11-0-background">end in Australia</a>. That’s 22 years and 8 months from start to finish. </p>
<p>If we count branded packaging as a form of advertising (as the tobacco industry unequivocally agrees it is) then we need to add another 16 years and 7 months. That’s until plain packaging was implemented in December 2012. </p>
<p>Children seeing sports betting ads can’t participate in online gaming because they don’t have credit or debit cards. But they are a vital audience for the future of the industry. It is in the industry’s interests to beguile them about gaming as early and for as long as possible until the day they can open their first betting account.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/77781/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
When is the upcoming ban on early evening TV sports betting ads not a real ban? When it’s a partial ban that ignores how real people watch sport.Simon Chapman, Emeritus Professor in Public Health, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704942016-12-21T19:01:50Z2016-12-21T19:01:50ZWhen it comes to election campaigns, is the gambling lobby all bark and no bite?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151172/original/image-20161221-14203-1cppkff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Poker machines are wildly unpopular in the electorate – so why fight an election on them?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Paul Jeffers</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/11/ka-ching-how-the-gambling-lobby-won-the-fight-over-pokie-reforms">gambling lobby’s influence</a> in overriding popular opinion and the public interest in Australia <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">is well-known</a>. But is its electoral power exaggerated? A look at this year’s ACT election suggests that perhaps the gambling industry is less influential than it appears to be.</p>
<h2>Generating fear</h2>
<p>One crucial weapon in Big Gambling’s lobbying arsenal is its threat to campaign against MPs at elections.</p>
<p>Former politicians <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/20/politicians-fear-being-targeted-by-the-gambling-lobby-rob-oakeshott-says">describe the fear</a> generated by threats of being targeted at elections: that the gambling industry will bring such financial resources to bear in an election campaign that proponents of gambling reform will be defeated at the ballot box.</p>
<p>The 2011 campaign against federal independent MP Andrew Wilkie’s poker-machine reform agenda provides evidence of this electoral fear. Aided and abetted by a <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/09/27/the-conflicts-of-interest-muddying-the-anti-pokies-campaign/">conflicted media</a>, the gambling lobby <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/politics/national/pokies-industry-precommits-40m-to-see-mps-lose-20111013-jafgk">boasted of a A$40 million war-chest</a> that would “eviscerate the government’s ranks of ministers and parliamentary secretaries at the next election if no compromise was reached” on Wilkie’s reforms. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">marginal seats campaign was promised</a>, in which vulnerable government MPs would be targeted with vast electoral resources to blast those who did not acquiesce to Big Gambling’s wishes out of office.</p>
<p>History shows this campaign was successful in spooking the Gillard government. It <a href="https://theconversation.com/gillards-pokie-rethink-shows-weakness-while-wilkie-wavers-4979">reneged on its promised reforms</a> well before the 2013 election. This gave the gambling industry an easy victory without an election being fought on the issue.</p>
<p>We don’t know if the gambling industry’s promised electoral strategy would have been successful because it has never been tested. Its great success has been in the <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck">fear it generates among politicians</a> well before any election is called.</p>
<p>However, there are good reasons to think the industry’s popular support is lacking. For one, poker machines are wildly unpopular in the electorate. <a href="http://www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/846901/2014-Survey-on-Gambling,-Health-and-Wellbeing-in-the-ACT-.pdf">In 2014</a>, 86% of ACT residents stated a belief that pokies do more harm than good, and a majority would like to see the number of machines reduced. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://lyceum.anu.edu.au/wp-content/blogs/3/uploads/ANUpoll-%20Gambling1.pdf">a national study</a> conducted during the gambling reform debate in 2011 found 74% in favour of mandatory pre-commitment.</p>
<h2>What happened in the ACT?</h2>
<p>With such little popular support for Big Gambling among voters, the wisdom of fighting an election campaign over pokies is questionable.</p>
<p>The 2016 ACT election finally put this question to the test. The issue was the Labor government’s decision to allow the Canberra Casino to <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-casino-to-get-200-poker-machines-20160505-gon6ol.html">purchase 200 pokie licenses from ACT clubs</a>, allowing the machines in the casino for the first time. </p>
<p>Lobby group ClubsACT <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-launch-campaign-against-casino-pokies-bid-20160322-gnp2ke.html">promised to campaign</a> hard on the casino issue, arguing it was a threat to the clubs sector’s viability in Canberra. But ACT Labor did not back down prior to the election, and decided to face a concerted electoral campaign by the gambling industry.</p>
<p>ClubsACT, which is reliant on pokies for the <a href="http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/726407/Sub-No.-55-ACT-Gambling-and-Racing-Commission.pdf#page=24">majority of its income</a>, launched a campaign against Labor and the Greens. It <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-act-sells-deakin-offices-to-pay-for-campaign-against-pokies-in-the-casino-20161209-gt7i15.html">reportedly spent</a> $185,000 funding the creation of a new political party, Canberra Community Voters (CCV), headed by lobbyist Richard Farmer. Most of this money was reportedly <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/act-election-2016/clubs-bankrolling-100k-of-minor-partys-antilabor-ads-20161004-grugwm.html">spent on TV advertising</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M4a169PPuvE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A ‘Your Canberra Clubs’ ad.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>CCV’s signature issue was the future of clubs in the ACT. While it always seemed unlikely that it would gain seats in the Legislative Assembly, the political strategy appears to be one of diverting primary votes away from Labor and the Greens, and directing preferences to the Liberals. </p>
<p>A second front of attack was launched directly through the clubs themselves. During the months leading up to the election, banners and beer coasters appeared in Canberra’s community clubs bearing the slogan:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Imagine Canberra without community clubs. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"775928458937368576"}"></div></p>
<p>And, on election day, text messages were sent to club members, imploring them to “save your community club” by voting Liberal.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151192/original/image-20161221-14185-1axm6tw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A text message sent to a voter on the morning of the ACT election.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Francis Markham</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In all, ClubsACT reportedly <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/clubs-act-sells-deakin-offices-to-pay-for-campaign-against-pokies-in-the-casino-20161209-gt7i15.html">spent $240,000</a> on its electoral efforts. </p>
<p>But this much-feared campaign amounted to very little. CCV <a href="https://www.electionresults.act.gov.au/">received just 1,703 first-preference votes</a>, or 0.7% of validly cast votes, at a cost of $109 per vote. Clubs in the ACT collectively have more employees than CCV received votes. </p>
<p>If the clubs’ <a href="http://www.parliament.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/726440/Sub-No.-68-Clubs-ACT.pdf">claim of 200,000 members</a> across the ACT is taken at face value, then less than 1% of members voted according to their wishes. Ultimately, the sitting Labor government was <a href="https://theconversation.com/labor-wins-act-election-decisively-67120">returned for a fifth term</a>. The Liberals, the supposed beneficiary of the clubs’ campaign, received a swing against them of 2.2%.</p>
<p>While it is impossible to know exactly what role the gambling industry’s campaign played in this election, the clubs’ monopoly over pokies clearly wasn’t a decisive issue. Few voters were swayed to change their vote by the clubs’ arguments or CCV’s advertising blitz. In the final analysis, the clubs’ willingness to spend almost a quarter-of-a-million dollars on campaigning came to little.</p>
<p>This should embolden governments around Australia that have a mind to deal with the social fallout caused by poker machines. Poker machine reform remains very popular in Australia. What we now know is that the gambling industry’s much-vaunted electoral power is more bark than bite.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Markham has been employed on projects funded by the Australian Research Council, the government of the Northern Territory and the government of the Australian Capital Territory. He is currently employed on a project funded by the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory. He is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Young has previously received research funding from the Australian Research Council, Gambling Research Australia, and several state government departments. His research is currently funded by the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory Government. In addition to his SCU position, he a Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU.</span></em></p>The gambling lobby’s failure to seriously influence the 2016 ACT election should embolden governments around Australia that have a mind to deal with gambling reform.Francis Markham, PhD Candidate, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityMartin Young, Associate Professor, School of Business and Tourism, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/606392016-06-24T23:28:24Z2016-06-24T23:28:24ZPaying the piper and calling the tune? Following ClubsNSW’s political donations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/127054/original/image-20160617-11101-1mr4ssl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former NSW premier Barry O'Farrell struck a deal with ClubsNSW while in opposition.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dan Himbrechts</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Part of the reason why the poker-machine lobby is successful in defeating any attempt to contain it is its capacity to give big money to political parties. It can also outspend most lobbyists on public campaigns.</p>
<p>We have identified 31 individual politicians or specific re-election campaigns from both sides of politics receiving ClubsNSW donations. These are the donations <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=48&ClientId=16043">we can track</a>; currently, donations of less than A$13,000 <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-our-political-donations-system-work-and-is-it-any-good-60159">do not need</a> to be publicly disclosed.</p>
<p>There is no suggestion the donations directly influence MPs’ decision-making. But while such donations don’t determine decisions they do, presumably, allow ClubsNSW to gain access to policymakers. </p>
<p>What’s also apparent is politicians hear the voice of ClubsNSW and other pokie operators loud and clear. Those seeking to reform poker-machine and other gambling regulations would argue this is to the detriment of good policy, and harmful to the well-being of those affected by gambling harm.</p>
<h2>Carrot-and-stick campaigning</h2>
<p>In October 2010, New South Wales’ then-opposition leader Barry O’Farrell <a href="http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac;jsessionid=3D1D98B49789B59B0E460BF1B4B74CBE?sy=afr&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=1month&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=brs&cls=3&clsPage=1&docID=SHD120520F61H12ISQK5">signed a “memorandum of understanding”</a> with ClubsNSW. This provided a raft of benefits for the clubs if he was elected, including a $300 million tax break and limits to competition.</p>
<p>Two months before O’Farrell and his gaming spokesman George Souris signed the deal, Julia Gillard began to stitch up a deal of her own with various crossbenchers to become prime minister. One independent MP, Andrew Wilkie, undertook to support Labor <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2010/s3001404.htm">on the basis</a> that it would introduce a system of pokie pre-commitment.</p>
<p>Half of Australia’s 200,000 pokies are in NSW; 70% of those are in clubs. Pokies make their operators a fortune – <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/aus-gambling-stats/index.php">more than $11 billion per year</a>, as of 2013-14, with about $5.4 billion of that in NSW.</p>
<p>It’s no surprise, then, ClubsNSW went to war over the Wilkie-Gillard reforms. If they were effective, they would strip out a substantial chunk of the pokie revenue – maybe as much as the 42% of pokie losses estimated to <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report/gambling-report-volume1.pdf">come from problem gamblers</a>. With some clubs in NSW getting 80% or more of their revenue from pokies, any serious harm-minimisation measures would push them to the edge.</p>
<p>What the clubs did was textbook political campaigning. It involved both a carrot and a stick. </p>
<p>The carrot? Political donations to the major parties, and in particular to selected politicians from within the major parties. </p>
<p>The stick? A <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">highly effective</a> marginal seats campaign, coupled with broadcast advertising and local campaigns targeting specific politicians proposing gambling reform.</p>
<p>The result was a very nervous Labor backbench, <a href="http://www.armidaleexpress.com.au/story/935470/labor-mps-revolt-over-pokies-deal/">particularly in NSW</a>. Kevin Rudd capitalised on this, promising to ditch the reforms <a href="https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/12996948/clubs-confirm-pokie-reforms-meeting/">if re-elected as leader</a>. In the end, Gillard gave in, abandoning the deal with Wilkie and overcoming her government’s dependency on his support by appointing Liberal defector Peter Slipper <a href="http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac;jsessionid=3D1D98B49789B59B0E460BF1B4B74CBE?sy=afr&pb=all_ffx&dt=selectRange&dr=1month&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=10&rm=200&sp=brs&cls=3&clsPage=1&docID=SHD120520F61H12ISQK5">as speaker</a>. </p>
<p>If that was the solution, the problem Gillard faced must have been wicked indeed.</p>
<h2>Money, money, money</h2>
<p>A search of the Australian Electoral Commission political donor records reveals that between July 1999 and June 2015, ClubsNSW declared political donations <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=56&ClientId=16043">worth $2,569,181</a>. Almost all of this money went to either the ALP ($886,505) or the Coalition parties ($1,682,676). </p>
<p>Other funds went to entities linked to the parties, including a <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">$29,600 donation</a> to the Liberal Party-linked Millennium Forum in 2012-13. This was just before the body was drawn to the public’s attention in unhappy circumstances before <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-liberals-launch-fundraising-body-to-replace-discredited-millennium-forum-20140725-zwppv.html">NSW’s Independent Commission Against Corruption</a>.</p>
<p>For its campaign against the Wilkie-Gillard reforms, ClubsNSW allied with casinos, the Australian Hotels Association, and major players such as the Woolworths subsidiary, pokie operators ALH Ltd. It declared additional expenditure of $3,478,581 for this during <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/PoliticalExpenditure.aspx?SubmissionId=48&ClientId=16043">2010-11</a> and <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/PoliticalExpenditure.aspx?SubmissionId=49&ClientId=16043">2011-12</a>. Of that, $2,989,600 was for broadcasting expenses.</p>
<p>Another $490,624 was spent on polling and electoral research – some of which may well have found its way <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/gambling-and-alcohol-money-to-target-antipokies-senator-nick-xenophon-greens-20160604-gpbjl5.html">into party-political hands</a>.</p>
<p>Lobbying politicians effectively may sometimes require exchanges of ideas and, clearly, the exchange of funds. Until 2010, ClubsNSW donated only to Labor and Coalition party coffers directly. After that period, donations began to flow regularly to individual politicians and their campaigns.</p>
<p>A number of individual politicians, or their re-election campaigns, were substantial beneficiaries of ClubsNSW’s largesse after 2010. These included the Coalition’s <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=55&ClientId=16043">Craig Laundy</a> ($20,000), <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">Craig Kelly</a> ($6,500), <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">Bob Baldwin</a> ($4,000), and <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">Luke Hartsuyker</a> ($3,000). On the Labor side, the recipients included <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=55&ClientId=16043">Joel Fitzgibbon</a> ($8,500), <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=48&ClientId=16043">Jason Clare</a> ($9,250), <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">Chris Bowen</a> ($3,700) and <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=51&ClientId=16043">Mike Kelly</a> ($3,000).</p>
<p>And a donation of $50,000 <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=49&ClientId=16043">went directly</a> to a Gold Coast PO box, naming then-Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane, in 2011-12.</p>
<p>Liberal MP Kevin Andrews received $40,000 in donations for his Menzies campaign account up until 2014-15. <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=55&ClientId=16043">Two of these donations</a>, for $20,000 and $10,000, were originally earmarked as being for the Liberal Party’s Victorian division. However, they were, in fact, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/follow-the-money-clubs-nsw-donated-to-kevin-andrews-victorianbased-menzies-200-club-20150726-gikryw.html">intended for Andrews’ campaign</a>.</p>
<p>Clubs NSW donated a <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/Donor.aspx?SubmissionId=56&ClientId=16043">further $10,000</a> to Andrews’ campaign in 2014-15.</p>
<p>Andrews was a frontbencher with responsibility for gambling policy in the lead-up to the 2013 election. He opposed the regulation of poker machines, and was supported strongly by ClubsNSW <a href="http://www.canberratimes.com.au/video/video-news/video-national-news/clubs-nsw-paid-20000-to-support-kevin-andrews-20150727-3zyr6">in the election campaign</a>.</p>
<p>Andrews became social services minister and was responsible for gambling once the Abbott government was elected. He repealed the Gillard government’s very modest gambling reforms <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2013/November/Gambling_reforms_to_be_wound_back">in November 2013</a>, just two months after winning government.</p>
<h2>Toward reform</h2>
<p>It seems there is a coterie of politicians on both sides who are trusted, or at any rate supported by, the pokies lobby. Whether they are agents of influence, intelligence conduits, neither, or both, we do not know. </p>
<p>What is clear is that gambling reform has been stymied by powerful vested interests. This has been facilitated – in fact, made possible – by very poor political donation disclosure laws. </p>
<p>If we are to have anything like a timely window into who is giving money to our politicians, and perhaps buying influence with them, reform of this system is urgently needed.</p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>Further reading:</strong> <a href="http://theconversation.com/is-there-any-hope-for-gambling-reform-in-a-new-parliament-60638">Is there any hope for gambling reform in a new parliament?</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from Victorian and South Australian governments (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Centre, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens and of the Alliance for Gambling Reform. He submitted to the O'Farrell review and met with Mr O'Farrell during the course of his review. The research reported in this article was funded by the Alliance for Gambling Reform.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maggie Johnson is a recipient of an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) funded by the Australian government. </span></em></p>There is a coterie of politicians on both sides who are trusted, or at any rate supported by, the pokies lobby.Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityMaggie Johnson, PhD Student, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/487282015-10-07T00:12:02Z2015-10-07T00:12:02ZWhatever the truth of Garrett’s story, it’s about gambling industry politics and influence<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/97504/original/image-20151006-7375-fq0sz7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Former minister Peter Garrett retracted claims about receiving cash in an envelope from a representative of a gambling industry lobby group.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Marianna Massey</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Former federal minister Peter Garrett has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-06/peter-garrett-retracts-details-of-alleged-clubs-nsw-money-offer/6831408">retracted</a> claims that he received cash in an envelope from a representative of lobby group Clubs NSW at a gambling industry event in 2004. He now says he received a cheque made out to his electorate office, which he returned.</p>
<p>Garrett’s retraction is a little remarkable. He was the source (in some detail) of the original story, in a book he’s launching next week, and via a new ABC documentary, KaChing!. We can only speculate as to his reasons for changing the story. </p>
<p>Clubs NSW <a href="https://twitter.com/political_alert/status/651328584045342720">“unequivocally rejected”</a> Garrett’s earlier claims.</p>
<p>Perhaps a little less remarkable, but worth some attention nonetheless, are the <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/national/investigations/political-donations-second-pokie-lobby-tips-45000-into-kevin-andrewslinked-fund-20150727-gillfi.html">significant amounts</a> that club and pub interests donated to a fundraising body linked to Liberal MP Kevin Andrews.</p>
<p>When he was in opposition, Andrews was responsible for developing Liberal Party policy on gambling. He put that policy into practice when he became minister for social services, dismantling the Gillard government’s already watered-down poker machine reforms. Andrews’ policy was announced in a video introduced by Clubs Australia and Clubs NSW CEO Anthony Ball. </p>
<p>Despite the apparent strangeness of donating to an organisation supporting the re-election of a Victorian-based MP, a Clubs NSW spokesperson said the donations were for “no particular purpose”. There is no suggestion that the donations directly influenced Andrews’ decision-making. But the Abbott government, in enacting its policy, abandoned gambling reform.</p>
<h2>The lobby’s profound influence</h2>
<p>Many people are concerned about the relentless promotion of sports betting. We’ll find out soon enough if this generates a new cohort of people harmed by gambling.</p>
<p>At the moment, however, <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/gambling-2009/report#contents">80%</a> of the gambling harm in Australia, and A$11 billion out of a gambling total of more than $20 billion, <a href="http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/products/reports/aus-gambling-stats/aus-gambling-stats-30th-edn-summary-tables-2012-13.pdf">comes via poker machines</a> in clubs and pubs. Sports betting, in contrast, is worth about $500 million a year.</p>
<p>There are about 200,000 poker machines in Australia. Half are in NSW. In 2012-13, people lost $5.2 billion on NSW machines. In 2014-15, Victorians lost <a href="http://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au/home/resources/data+and+research/data/">$2.6 billion</a> and Queenslanders <a href="https://secure.olgr.qld.gov.au/dcm/Gaming">$2.2 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Prior to the last two NSW state elections, the Liberal Party signed memorandums of understanding <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/poker-machine-lobby-signs-another-private-deal-with-nsw-liberals-20141017-117sqy.html">with the clubs</a>. The clubs thus support the Liberals, and the NSW government seems keen to help them out. In July 2015, this took the form of permitting the cash payout of up to $5,000 in winnings. Previously this was limited to $2,000. More than this and the money was paid by cheque. </p>
<p>The limit for deposits on gambling load-up cards was also upped, from $200 to $5,000. The clubs say this is for convenience of their members. Of course, this has nothing to do with making it more likely that any winnings end up back in the clubs’ pokies.</p>
<p>In Queensland, under the guise of <a href="http://www.anglicanchurchsq.org.au/images/Anglican_Church_SQ_Gambling_Red_Tape_Reduction_Report_FINAL_08Jan15_rebadged.pdf">“red tape reduction”</a>, the now-ousted Newman government agreed to a batch of “reforms” to make life easier for club pokie operators. The new ALP government says it wants to wind back these “reforms”. Unfortunately, it has inherited a swarm of new casinos, with a second Brisbane casino approved, an additional casino on the Gold Coast being developed and a mega-casino <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-time-is-different-the-local-costs-of-cairns-new-casino-30253">proposed</a> for Cairns. </p>
<p>Other towns – or, more correctly, developers – are clamouring for casinos too. </p>
<p>In Victoria, the Labor government recently announced a <a href="http://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safer+communities/gambling/gaming+machine+arrangements+review">review</a> of poker machine entitlements. There are 30,000 poker machines in Victoria – about 27,000 in pubs and clubs and the balance in the casino. The internal review was announced late on a Friday night, so confidence that it will actually address the harms of gambling is low. There’s no commitment to publication of the review’s report. </p>
<p>Prior to the Victorian state election in 2014, pubs and clubs lobbied the state for the conversion of their 10-year entitlements to licences in perpetuity, as in NSW. That effort died with the election, but they haven’t given up. The government could expect a windfall of revenue from the conversion of entitlements to licences in perpetuity, and even more if it allowed more pokies into the state. As Paul Keating famously remarked:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Never get between a premier and bucket of money.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The harm done to people is, it seems, incidental to the $5 billion that <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/5506.02013-14?OpenDocument">flows into state treasuries</a> from gambling. Of this, 60% comes from poker machines.</p>
<p>Pokies are essentially <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9156.html">addiction machines</a> – computers housed in a retro box that combines a host of psychological tricks. Their sole purpose is to extract as much money as possible. By stimulating the production of neuro-chemicals, pokies do exactly what drugs do – give the user a pain-dulling reward. </p>
<p>The problem is, most people realise that heroin and ice are dangerous and addictive. When it comes to gambling, state governments give pokies the seal of approval, and the local pub or club is the dealer. Even worse, we know that pokies are cynically <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/16066359.2012.727507#.VhRAYI-qqko">concentrated in disadvantaged communities</a>.</p>
<p>State governments are legislators, regulators and beneficiaries of gambling. They are addicted to the revenue, and deeply conflicted as to their role. Even more troubling is that since 2008-09 poker machine operators have <a href="http://periodicdisclosures.aec.gov.au/">given</a> more than $6 million in donations to the ALP and the Liberal Party. Most of this has gone to the Liberals – more than $4 million.</p>
<h2>Is this a problem?</h2>
<p>Gambling operators exist because governments license them. They are, in many ways, the ultimate rent-seekers. Without government imprimatur, they have no revenue stream. </p>
<p>Should such businesses be permitted to donate to politicians or political parties? And should they be permitted to influence government, legislation and regulation as powerfully as they do? The gambling industry’s campaign against the Gillard government’s reforms was <a href="http://insidestory.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">extraordinary</a>.</p>
<p>This is a lobby that knows how to wield power and does it with great expertise, backed by significant resources. As recent events in the US have shown, organisations like the National Rifle Association are <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/05/spare-me-this-sanctimonious-australian-self-congratulation-after-us-gun-massacres">entrenched in US politics</a>, almost certainly to the detriment of good policy and the public interest. Australia’s gambling lobby may well be in the same league.</p>
<p>Disclosure of political donations in Australia is poor – perhaps as bad as the rules governing politicians’ travel entitlements. Rorting the latter seems to be a bipartisan sport. Giving gambling operators what they want in return for donations, and in fear of their enmity, may well be another.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48728/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from Victorian and South Australian governments (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of government revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Centre, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens. He was interviewed for the forthcoming ABC documentary 'KaChing!', and provided some technical advice to its producers.</span></em></p>The gambling industry knows how to wield power, and does it with great expertise, backed by significant resources.Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471552015-09-10T20:10:45Z2015-09-10T20:10:45ZOnline gambling review should not ignore the problems in our own backyard<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94363/original/image-20150910-21214-sjv8qx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C112%2C3000%2C2016&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Those concerned with the growing harms of online gambling will be disappointed with the terms of reference of a new Australian review.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Bobby Yip</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As those who watch sport will attest, online gambling is seemingly ubiquitous. Certainly <a href="https://theconversation.com/born-to-bet-four-corners-on-the-tom-waterhouse-media-effect-14503">advertising</a> for it is. </p>
<p>In Australia, the regulation of gambling services is a matter for state governments. However, the federal government has responsibility for telecommunications, which includes the internet. So, there is some division of responsibility for online gambling. This has arguably left the area less well regulated than it might be. </p>
<p>This is one ostensible reason the federal government has <a href="http://scottmorrison.dss.gov.au/media-releases/coalition-government-tackles-illegal-offshore-wagering">announced a review</a> of the online gambling industry.</p>
<h2>Background</h2>
<p>The current federal legislation is the <a href="https://www.comlaw.gov.au/Series/C2004A00851">Interactive Gambling Act</a>. It allows Australian operators to offer online betting. It also seeks to prohibit the provision of casino-style gambling – roulette, slot machines – to Australian residents, but doesn’t prohibit Australians from using such services. </p>
<p>This means that Australian-registered services are not allowed to offer some gambling services, but are permitted to take online bets. </p>
<p>The most recent review of the act <a href="http://www.responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/23718/Final_Report_-_Review_of_the_Interactive_Gambling_Act_2001-2012.pdf">reported</a> in 2012. It concluded that it would be useful to consider a trial of some online gambling – suggesting online poker, which is thought to be a less harmful form of gambling than slots or other casino-style gambling.</p>
<p>The review also recommended a host of harm-minimisation measures be introduced into the online gambling arena. These included a pre-commitment system, an effective self-exclusion system and much-improved practices among bookies. The review recommended that better enforcement of offshore providers be implemented, although effective regulation of extra-jurisdictional gambling providers is likely to be futile.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the review suggested that banking institutions should be rewarded for blocking transactions between Australians and nominated unlawful gambling providers. This may have some effect, although mainstream banking institutions provide only some of the plethora of ways of moving money around the world.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.financialcounsellingaustralia.org.au/getattachment/Corporate/Home/FINAL-PDF-Duds,-Mugs-and-the-A-List-The-Impact-of-Uncontrolled-Sports-Betting-low-res.pdf">Financial Counselling Australia</a> report highlighted a number of what can only be regarded as very dubious practices among prominent bookmakers operating under Australian regulation. These include extending unsolicited lines of credit, failure to pay winnings on request and repeated inducements to gamble. </p>
<p>These practices are not caught by current consumer protections under credit law or gambling regulation. Bookies also appear to regularly share data on their customers, which is likely to breach privacy legislation.</p>
<h2>What this review will focus on</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/scott-morrison-to-spearhead-new-online-gambling-review-20150831-gjbqoc">Media reports</a> early this month – when Social Services Minister Scott Morrison confirmed that a review would be held – appeared to focus on a range of the issues highlighted by the 2013 review, including consumer protection.</p>
<p>However, the <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/communities-and-vulnerable-people/programmes-services/gambling/review-impact-of-illegal-offshore-wagering-terms-of-reference">terms of reference</a> headlined this new review as being into the:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Impact of Illegal Offshore Wagering.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In fairness, one of the terms of reference of the review is concerned with increasing consumer protection. </p>
<p>It will be a quick review. The final report must be with Morrison by late December. Submissions will be sought from industry and the public. </p>
<p>Those concerned with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-sports-betting-on-the-rise-can-we-avoid-a-tsunami-of-gambling-harm-46192">growing harms</a> of online gambling – and particularly sports betting – will be disappointed with the terms of this review. There are a number of pressing concerns that, from a consumer protection perspective, might have ranked higher in both the terms of reference and Morrison’s messaging.</p>
<p>Online bookies are competing for market share in Australia, where the operators now include global giants such as the British bookies Ladbrokes and William Hill. Their practices have attracted considerable criticism as the scramble for revenue escalates. </p>
<p>Troubling practices include the continuing provision of credit, the pushing of boundaries on such issues as the prohibition of online in-play betting, and blanket advertising of their wares – including to children during sporting events – and the aggressive branding of sporting teams with gambling providers.</p>
<h2>What is Australia’s real gambling problem?</h2>
<p>Sports betting in Australia is likely to generate revenue – that is, player losses – of <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-sports-betting-on-the-rise-can-we-avoid-a-tsunami-of-gambling-harm-46192">around A$750 million in 2015-16</a>. It is the fastest-growing gambling sector and is likely to produce a new wave of gambling problems among the young men to whom these products are marketed. </p>
<p>Although modest in comparison to poker machines – which generated <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/poker-machine-spend-rebounds-may-2013-201305060058">around $11 billion</a> in losses in 2014-15 – it needs to be effectively regulated if Australia is to avoid adding to the already significant burden of gambling harm. The good news is that preventing this harm is actually quite straightforward.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, substantial and powerful segments of the Australian body politic are now closely affected by the fortunes of the bookies. These include <a href="http://www.crownresorts.com.au/about-us/our-businesses">Packer interests</a> via CrownBet, the AFL’s official <a href="http://www.afl.com.au/afl-hq/partners/corporate-partners">wagering partner</a>. State and territory treasuries are also abundantly interested in maintaining the flow of money. </p>
<p>It is worth asking if the offshore online gambling sector is Australia’s most pressing gambling problem. Undoubtedly, some Australians get into a lot of trouble gambling online. Most of them will fall prey to bookies already licensed in Australia and offering services lawfully. Some will end up in trouble because of offshore sites offering unobtainable services such as online slots or roulette. </p>
<p>Overall, the market going to such offshore providers is estimated at around $1 billion, although there is no way of verifying this under current circumstances. </p>
<p>But, at least 75% of those with a gambling problem have it because of <a href="http://www.problemgambling.gov.au/facts/">poker machines</a> in clubs or pubs. We see little concern from the government about this group.</p>
<p>And, even in the online gambling environment, there appears to be little concern about first cleaning up our own backyard. The 2013 review made some very sensible recommendations about harm minimisation, including restricting or prohibiting credit betting. This is clearly a source of considerable harm to many. And prohibiting credit betting is in fact current federal government policy.</p>
<p>The Financial Counselling Australia report provided ample evidence of the excesses of the Australian online gambling industry. A recent <a href="http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/09/09/make-people-gamble-confessions-retention-officer/">whistleblower article</a> from within the industry confirmed these concerns. These need to be a major focus of any review of the Interactive Gambling Act and other relevant federal legislation, including the regulation of advertising and banking services.</p>
<p>But if the renewed urgency behind this review is to highlight the “dangers” of offshore online gambling providers, then the bookies will be arguing as hard as they can that the solution is to allow them to offer the same services from Australia. After all, the internet is notoriously difficult to regulate and service providers licensed in Australia would be expected to observe Australian regulation.</p>
<p>It is important to ensure gambling is properly regulated. But it is probably better to address the main game first, or at least simultaneously. That involves making sure that current providers are adhering to the best possible harm-minimisation practice.</p>
<p>The 2013 review set up a clear set of goals for that. We don’t need another review to know what needs to be done, or to do it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from Victorian and South Australian governments (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of government revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Centre, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He is a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens.
</span></em></p>At least 75% of those with a gambling problem have it because of poker machines in clubs or pubs. Yet we see little concern from the government about this group.Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/322582014-11-04T15:24:16Z2014-11-04T15:24:16ZHow slots trick gamblers into losing more than they know<p>A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. </p>
<p>This is a real opportunity for voters to consider where slot machine income comes from. Also, since slot machines are the most addictive form of gambling, Massachusetts voters should consider the source of gambling revenues, and whether slot machines are fair to gamblers. Let’s see what current research shows.</p>
<h2>Slot machine profits</h2>
<p>The industry estimate for slot machine “profits” is around $100,000 per machine per year of player losses. (See, for example, <a href="gaming.unlv.edu/reports/ct_monthly.pdf">slot machine revenue in nearby Connecticut</a>.)</p>
<p>These losses add up fast. A gambler who plays for just three hours one evening per week, and makes fairly small wagers of $1 per spin, would lose approximately $1,000 per month, or <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14459795.2014.918163">approximately $12,000 per year</a>, on average. </p>
<p>This is a very high cost of entertainment for what would appear to many as a relatively low wager per spin and relatively small number of hours per week. For many patrons casino gambling is much more expensive than going to big-name concerts or professional sporting events such as the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics, or Patriots. </p>
<p>Of greatest concern are players with a gambling problem, or those who may develop a problem in the future. Approximately <a href="https://www.uleth.ca/dspace/handle/10133/380">50% of slot machine revenue</a> is derived from players with moderate and severe gambling problems, who make up only 3%-4% of the general population. </p>
<p>Such players have very high losses which cause very significant negative consequences for them and their families. In the extreme cases, such as <a href="http://www.statejournal.com/story/26236710/gambling-addicts-widow-claims-casino-exploited-her-husbands-out-of-control-behavior">Scott Stevens of Ohio,</a> things can quickly spiral out of control. </p>
<p>Stevens’ case is particularly tragic: he embezzled from his employer and eventually committed suicide. He was a husband and father with a senior role in accounting and no known problems aside from gambling. But once he started playing slots he couldn’t stop.</p>
<h2>Characteristics of slot machines</h2>
<p>Slot machine manufacturers design the gambling experience to confuse and manipulate players’ emotions in an effort to keep players gambling. This is called maximizing ‘time on device’. Many of these manipulations are not readily revealed to the player. Here are some examples drawn from my research:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The cost of play of slot machines is hidden from the player. An estimate of the per-hour cost is 50 to 100 times the cost of a single spin, but this varies depending on the settings of the game. </p></li>
<li><p>Worse yet, the same game may be on multiple machines in a casino and programmed to pay out differently on each. Thus, even if a player knew the cost of play on one machine, that knowledge would not necessarily transfer to the same game elsewhere in the same casino. Players start to incorrectly guess how slots work and guess at the chance of making money by playing the machines. Obviously, there is randomness involved in how much a player loses at any given session, but slot machine players cannot even predict how expensive a session might be. </p></li>
<li><p>On modern slot machines, half of ‘wins’ are actually net losses. An example would be a $1 bet with a 30¢ payoff. This is a loss of 70¢, but the machine shows bright graphics and makes sounds announcing a win. Researchers call these events Losses Disguised as Wins (LDWs) and have clearly shown that players experience these as actual wins, giving the players the (incorrect) positive feelings that they are winning. Players who have many losses-disguised-as-wins overestimate the number of actual wins they receive in a session: they psychologically encode these net losses as actual wins. </p></li>
<li><p>Slot machines create ‘near miss’ outcomes: losses that appear close to jackpots. One trick to make this happen is to have the jackpot symbol to be surprisingly rare on the final reel. Near misses lead to prolonged play, and heavier losses. </p></li>
</ol>
<h2>Loss disguised as a win for states?</h2>
<p>There are also serious concerns about the financial aspects of slot machine facilities, particularly if slots are being claimed to be bringing good revenues into a state’s treasury.</p>
<p>For example, at many casinos slots players can apply for a loan. This seems predatory on the casino’s part as the casino knows that the player is out of money, and yet the casino lends the player money to gamble, knowing the player will likely lose that money back to them. Such predatory lending should be forbidden.</p>
<p>Finally, research shows that bringing casinos with slots to within 30 miles of major cities will usually boost the number of people with a gambling problem in that city. The best current research shows that introducing slots to Massachusetts, without working to ameliorate their harms, will have a high potential for causing significant <a href="http://www.ajgiph.com/content/3/1/2">negative effects on communities</a> in the Commonwealth.</p>
<p>_This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a> _</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32258/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kevin Harrigan receives funding from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Brown is a co-investigator of a research grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Centre, for which Kevin Harrigan is the principal investigator.</span></em></p>A 2011 Massachusetts law allows for the expansion of gambling, including slot machines. That law is now on the November 2014 election ballot for potential repeal. This is a real opportunity for voters…Kevin Harrigan, Associate Professor, University of WaterlooDan Brown, Director, Undergraduate Studies, University of WaterlooLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319392014-11-03T05:25:34Z2014-11-03T05:25:34ZLosses disguised as wins, the science behind casino profits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/62015/original/xsyrqn62-1413489372.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Your odds of winning are greatly improved if you own a casino.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and <a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2013/11/1/us-economy/americas-wheel-fortune-spinning-again">grossed $US37.34 billion</a>. </p>
<p>Each year gaming revenues in the US yield more profits than the <a href="http://www.mpaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/MPAA-Theatrical-Market-Statistics-2013_032514-v2.pdf">theatrical movie industry</a> ($US10.9 billion) and the <a href="http://riaa.com/media/2463566A-FF96-E0CA-2766-72779A364D01.pdf">recorded music industry</a> ($US7 billion) combined. Even the <a href="https://www.wrhambrecht.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/SportsMarketReport_2012.pdf">$US22.5 billion combined revenue</a> of the four major US sports leagues is dwarfed by earnings from the commercial casinos industry.</p>
<p>Gambling is such good business that despite reported negative impacts – such as <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">increased poverty and unemployment</a>, <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=233792">higher crime rates</a>, and <a href="http://uss-mass.org/documents/NationlAssocationRealtors-Casino-Research.pdf">decreased property value</a> in nearby neighborhoods – the state of Illinois early this year passed a law to allow slot machines in all establishments that sell alcohol. </p>
<p>Likewise, Massachusetts has recently approved Las Vegas casino mogul Stephan Wynn’s plan for a $US1.6 billion dollar casino resort just north of in the Boston area. Although this project and others could be stopped by a <a href="http://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/ele14/pip143.htm">ballot question 3</a> “expanding prohibitions on gaming” on November 4. </p>
<h2>The spread of gambling in America</h2>
<p>Gambling is not just common, it’s also accepted. Despite the fact that for <a href="http://journal.cpha.ca/index.php/cjph/article/view/102/102">an estimated 4%</a> of the population gambling represents a problematic and even pathological addiction, <a href="http://www.americangaming.org/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/aga_sos2013_fnl.pdf">85% of Americans</a> feel that gambling is either perfectly acceptable for themselves or if not themselves for others in a country where more than 20 States now allow some form of commercial casino.</p>
<p>It’s not too hard to see why casino lobbyists believe casinos make a positive contribution to the communities in which they operate. </p>
<p>It’s far less easy to understand why so many Americans enjoy gambling even though it tends to result in the loss of money.</p>
<h2>You lose, the casino wins</h2>
<p>As a general rule, we tend to repeat behavior that produces desirable results and avoid behaviors that result in loss. We repeat jokes that people laughed at, choose jobs that we enjoy and that pay the most money, and avoid behaviors that produce fines. Following this logic, one would expect a gambler to only play as long as they are winning and then cut their losses when they begin to lose. </p>
<p>Yet gambling appears to operate differently; <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11729554">players play faster</a> after losses and bet persistently regardless of the <a href="http://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/bsi/article/view/34">percentage of payback</a>, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1962-05888-001">magnitude of return</a>, or the lack of <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15612606">winning entirely</a>. So what encourages gambling behavior if losing occurs more frequently, and payouts do not exceed buy-ins?</p>
<p>One explanation is that gamblers poorly judge the actual probability of winning, even as their pile of tokens and coins dwindles before them.</p>
<p>Some examples of this phenomenon can easily be seen in the language of gamblers. “My luck is going to turn,” “A win is coming,” or “I am on a hot streak,” are all statements that speak to an over-confidence in one’s ability to predict functionally random events. </p>
<p>Gamblers will often say these things after an unusual series of outcomes, for example ten straight losses on red at roulette. The gambler may then proceed to bet more on red, in the false hope that the next spin is more likely to come up red due to the overall probability of the game (50% chance of red).</p>
<p>This flawed logic is called “<a href="http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eachaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gambler_s_fallacy.html">The Gambler’s Fallacy</a>”. It stems from a misunderstanding of how probabilities are assessed; in fact the outcome of the previous spin of the roulette wheel has no influence on the outcome of the next spin. The probability of red remains stubbornly fixed at 50%. </p>
<h2>Missed it by that much</h2>
<p>Another example of how gamblers misjudge losing outcomes can be seen when individuals respond to losses that are similar in appearance to a win. Receiving two out of three symbols necessary to win on a slot machine is a loss but players often <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21516368">respond to this “near miss”</a> with excitement, increased betting and more persistent play. </p>
<p>Winning and almost winning are such similar events to many people that they respond in the same way to both. People pause, for example, for longer after a win than a loss. This is known as a “<a href="http://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1341&context=tpr">post-reinforcement pause</a>.” People often pause for longer after a near-miss. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61724/original/xjw6j2nr-1413315993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s no accident near misses are pretty common on slot machines.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Winning and almost winning are so alike in gamblers’ brains that research on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine">dopamine</a>-transmitting pathways of anticipation and reward show remarkably similar activation patterns for a near-miss and a win.</p>
<p>Near-miss effects are not limited to outcomes that <em>look</em> similar to win. Outcomes that are closer to a win in a more abstract sense also cause a similar response. </p>
<p>For instance, the near-miss effect has been demonstrated in games where “nearly winning” might relate to scoring a number that is <a href="http://arts-sciences.und.edu/psychology/analysis_of_gambling_behavior/back_issues_pdfs/aogb-summer-2009-issue-2.pdf">close to a winning number</a>, such as in blackjack. </p>
<p>Near-miss outcomes are not the only form of almost winning that contributes to the behavioral confusion faced by gamblers. Modern slot machines also present a myriad of features that are designed to confuse outcomes. </p>
<h2>Slot confusion</h2>
<p>One feature present in almost every modern slot machine is the partial win or “loss disguised as a win.” </p>
<p>Since slot machines have gone from the traditional 3-reel 1-line slot machine to the modern 5-reel video slot, often with 25 or more winning lines, near-miss outcomes have become almost unidentifiable from other losing outcomes. </p>
<p>By encouraging individuals to play on more than one line, casinos have created a scenario where players are awarded a win on almost every spin. </p>
<p>Despite the increased frequency of winning, the proportion of money returned is often far less than the entire bet, such as winning 10c on a 50c bet. This 80% loss is accompanied by the same sounds on the machine as a real win and occupies the same area of the screen that wins are reported in. </p>
<p>Since noticing near-misses on modern slot machines is difficult, game makers have incorporated other game features such as free-spin symbols, mini-games, and progressive awards, which create new near miss situations while often not guaranteeing any increased value of a win themselves. </p>
<p>For example, special symbols might be placed on the reels that provide 10-free spins whenever three appear anywhere within the game screen. These symbols will often make a special sound, such as a loud thud when they land; and if two symbols land, many games will begin to play fast tempo music, display flashing lights around the remaining reels, and accelerate the rate of spin to enhance the saliency of the event. </p>
<p>When you win these sorts of outcomes you feel as though you have won a jackpot; after all, 10 free spins is 10x the chances to win big money right? The reality is that those 10 free-spins do not change the already small probability of winning on any given spin and are still likely to result in a loss of money. For many games, features such as this have entirely replaced standard jackpots.</p>
<p>These features share one important characteristic: they allow the casinos the ability to provide more outcomes that feel like a win while not increasing the actual payout. The effect of these features is so significant that in 1989 the <a href="http://www.gamblingresearch.org/content/slot-machine-structural-characteristics-creating-near-misses-using-high-award-symbol-ratios">Nevada Gaming Commission</a> banned algorithms that purposefully increased the prevalence of near-miss outcomes. Of course, this only applied to the intentional increasing of near misses when a loss is already determined, i.e. artificially producing a near miss instead of what the reels would have normally landed on.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, these laws do not preclude the intentional design of reel layouts that, without additional manipulation, produce frequent near misses and losses disguised as wins. These laws also do not apply to the newer game features which either highlight the near miss, such as accelerating reels, or create entirely new topographies of outcomes, as is the case with free-spins or mini-games. </p>
<p>While the question of how to best manage artificial manipulations of near misses may be a topic of future regulatory discussion, the decision to play games with these illusions will ultimately fall upon the end user. </p>
<p>As long as you are willing to expose yourself to the game in the first place, the casino need only sit back and wait. And with increasing availability of casinos across the US, they won’t need to wait long.</p>
<p>_This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a>. _</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31939/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Gambling is good business, or at least a profitable one. According to the American Gaming Association, in 2012 the 464 commercial casinos in the US served 76.1 million patrons and grossed $US37.34 billion…Mark R Dixon, Professor of Behavioural Psychology, Southern Illinois UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/319342014-10-30T09:47:52Z2014-10-30T09:47:52ZThe problem with gambling research<p>Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts embraced the trend in 2011 when the state legislature voted to legalise casinos. <a href="http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/26/problem-gambling-big-business">Construction is underway</a> for the state’s first casino at Plainridge Park, with 1,250 slot machines, harness racing and an estimated 500 new jobs.</p>
<p>That decision is now up for review, with a repeal referendum to be considered in the November midterms. In deciding whether to support the repeal, Massachusetts voters will need unbiased information about the social impact of gambling and its downsides. Sadly it’s going to be much harder to come by than you might think.</p>
<h2>A compromised research agenda</h2>
<p>Anyone looking for good quality evidence about the consequences of gambling first needs to understand how knowledge about gambling is produced. How do we know what we know? Who dictates the research agenda? How is research funded? How do we ensure that we have a sound base of impartial knowledge on which to build policy? </p>
<p>The answers to these questions are profoundly depressing. While in the fields of tobacco and alcohol research, academics regularly debate conflicts of interest and interrogate the strategic use of research and evidence, many gambling researchers remain dependent on industry funding. Gambling is an area largely devoid of disclosure policies, and many researchers are unreflective or outright defiant about industry influence. </p>
<p>Researchers, regulators and policy makers champion a “partnership model” for producing research, not so much “business as usual” as “we are all in this together.” This remarkable state of affairs contrasts markedly with other fields and produces a weak knowledge base that is unevenly influenced by industry interests.</p>
<p>The impact on the discipline is striking. A large proportion of spending goes on prevalence studies – <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/16066359.2012.680079">counting problem gamblers</a> in the general population. These surveys are popular with industry because they make it possible to downplay the absolute numbers of pathological gamblers, along with the percentage of the general population at risk from gambling problems, the percentage of gamblers who experience problems and the proportion of profits that come from problem gamblers (<a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/95707/24-appendixb.pdf">estimated at between 30 and 50%</a>). </p>
<p>Prevalence studies also tend to sidestep the question of social class, thus disguising the inconvenient fact that <a href="http://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">most of the harm from gambling occurs in disadvantaged populations</a> – those with the least capacity to absorb it.</p>
<h2>The problem with problem gamblers</h2>
<p>Complementing prevalence studies is a vast body of research on problem gamblers. Much of it rests on the assumption that gambling is a <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/research/horizons/spring2014/gamblingwhytaketherisk/">harmless leisure activity</a> which makes a <a href="http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742011001000022&lng=en&nrm=iso">net contribution to public funds through either taxation or out of town tourism</a>.</p>
<p>The idea that normal consumers gamble without ill-effect creates a separate category of defective consumers labelled as “<a href="http://abs.sagepub.com/content/51/1/33.abstract">problem gamblers</a>”. According to this framework, solutions to problems with gambling are to be sought on an individual level. The alternative approach – to see gambling as an aspect of public health that may be managed by limiting the supply of particular products - is poorly supported by industry or government funding, particularly where taxes on the profits of gambling have become an important source of state income, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-25/key-facts-gambling-in-australia/2730414">as in Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.utppublishing.com/Casino-State-Legalized-Gambling-in-Canada.html">Canada</a> and, increasingly, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/101575912">the United States.</a> </p>
<p>A minority of critical researchers continue to agitate for change – arguing that research should not be funded by the industry, that priorities should not be set by industry-influenced panels, and that research should have a public health remit.</p>
<h2>The role of researchers</h2>
<p>So far, these arguments have fallen on deaf ears. Senior researchers are not only content to take industry money, they are also prepared to defend these arrangements. </p>
<p>In December 2000 Nottingham University decided to accept a donation from British American Tobacco of £3.8 million to establish an International Centre for Corporate Responsibility. The executive editors of leading respiratory medicine journal Thorax, John Briton and Alan Knox, wrote an <a href="http://www.ash.org.uk/files/documents/ASH_388.pdf">open letter</a> arguing that “accepting money from the tobacco industry degrades the reputation of our University and undermines the work of all with a commitment to the teaching of medicine and the promotion of public health.” </p>
<p>Professor Richard Smith, editor of the British Medical Journal, resigned from his post at Nottingham, followed by a team of 20 cancer researchers, led by Professor David Thurston. </p>
<p>Almost 14 years later, Professor <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/science/people/alex.blaszczynski.php">Alex Blaszczynski</a>, editor-in-chief of the journal International Gambling Studies, and one of the most prominent gambling scholars in the world, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/clubs-bet-12m-on-gambling-research-xenophon-claims-stalling-tactic-20140530-399ud.html">received $1.2 million from the New South Wales clubs industry</a> to study problem gambling in Australia. Australians have the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6313083.stm">highest gambling losses</a> per resident adult of any country in the world and spend more on gambling than they do on alcohol or petrol.</p>
<p>Asked to defend this arrangement, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/clubs-bet-12m-on-gambling-research-xenophon-claims-stalling-tactic-20140530-399ud.html#ixzz3E8ize5Eu">Blaszczynski said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Because of the nature of gambling, you do have to start looking at gaining access to data held by the industry, by patrons who are in industry venues and start looking at real life research that provides sensible, evidence-based information.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Blaszczynski’s defence is disappointing. It does not engage with the most pressing criticism: scholars in the fields of alcohol and tobacco have shown that industry funding <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/add.12384/abstract">systematically influences</a> findings. </p>
<p>Further, by accepting that industry can control such access, Blaszczynski is, in effect, arguing for a monopoly on knowledge production for those who get along with the industry. </p>
<h2>How industry funding frames the agenda</h2>
<p>Blaszczynski’s acceptance of industry funding is not, however, exceptional and many in the field of gambling studies in the US, where <a href="http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20131210/101570/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-VolbergR-20131210.pdf">funding for research is one-twentieth that of Australia and Canada</a>, would vigorously defend his actions. </p>
<p>US universities enter into <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/apr/03/las-vegas-sands-donating-7-million-unlv/">partnerships with individual casino companies</a>. US academics compete for funding from the National Centre for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) which is paid for by the <a href="http://www.americangaming.org/about-aga">American Gaming Association</a> and claims to have mandated, “stringent firewalls to separate the gaming industry’s contributions from the research it funds”. The effectiveness of these firewalls, and similar mechanisms in the UK and Australia, <a href="http://www.parliament.nz/resource/mi-nz/50SCHE_EVI_00DBHOH_BILL12021_1_A333056/040eb61e1717887db3b1a708ec93aae95fa17474">is debatable</a>. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the National Centre for Responsible Gaming focuses exclusively on the disease model of gambling addiction and does not fund research with a wider social purview. Senior research director Christine Reilly recently <a href="http://the2x2project.org/gambling-public-health/">justified this approach</a> by saying: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>To me it seems kind of silly to spend time and money on an issue that is extremely difficult to research, because you can’t count on people’s memory.“ </p>
</blockquote>
<p>John Warren Kindt, Professor of Business and Administration at the University of Illinois recently <a href="http://the2x2project.org/gambling-public-health/">described NCRG output</a> as "research designed not to hurt the gambling industry and to misdirect the debate”.</p>
<h2>The trust deficit</h2>
<p>Some research with a broader public health remit can be found in <a href="https://ama.com.au/position-statement/health-effects-problem-gambling">Australia</a> and the <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9156.html">US</a>, but, as I discovered when I interviewed researchers for my <a href="http://www.gold.ac.uk/gamblingineurope/report/">study of gambling research,</a> it is likely to be criticised and ignored. The price of independence is the loss of funding and access to data. </p>
<p>We depend on researchers and public health organisations to inform us about the potential harms associated with gambling, consuming alcohol or smoking. The purpose of this research is to better understand how risky activities affect communities and help us to judge what restrictions, if any, should be placed on their supply and promotion. </p>
<p>We cannot trust gambling research. We must therefore be sceptics. Every expert invited to give evidence to a committee on gambling should be asked, “Have you ever accepted money from the industry to conduct a piece of research, write a paper or attend a conference?” </p>
<p>In the absence of a culture of disclosing interests, every paper submitted as evidence should be contextualised – again we must ask “Who paid for this research?” and “How did this person gain access to data?” </p>
<p>It’s not much - it doesn’t produce the independent research that we so urgently need - but until the field of gambling research undergoes meaningful reform it’s the least we need to do. </p>
<p>In the meantime, voters such as those in Massachusetts looking for independent research, will have little choice but to roll the dice.</p>
<p><em>This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31934/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassidy is funded by the European Research Council, grant number 263433. Between 2006 and 2009 she received £90,697.22 from ‘Research into Problem Gambling’, a collaborative research initiative between the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (lead organisation) and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust (RiGT), now the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT). All aspects of the grant were administered by the ESRC. Near the end of the project, I was asked by the RiGT to submit publications for prior approval, a request that I declined. Between 2007 and 2009 I received ad hoc support from the National Lottery Commission for the Gambling Research Network, a group of early career and PhD researchers coming together in London two or three times a year. Money covered refreshments and no explicit restrictions or inducements were placed on the group by the NLC. I have not received any other direct or indirect payments from the industry or any other groups substantially funded by gambling to conduct research or to speak at conferences or events. I have paid to attend industry-sponsored events and attended free, industry-supported events in order to conduct anthropological fieldwork. No funding was received from any source in relation to the contents of this article.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone is a Chief Investigator on a current Australian Research Council Grant investigating the mechanisms of industry influence of government by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Gambling industries. He has previously received grants from the Victorian Gambling Research Panel and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority, and an international partner grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Council, organisations which distribute funds derived from the proceeds of gambling. He has also received funding from local government and non-government organisations in relation to (i) the provision of expert evidence in relation to gambling applications and (ii) for specific research projects focused on aspects of gambling policy, the costs of problem gambling, distribution of gambling derived-harm, and the extent to which gambling funds provide community benefits. He was a member of the Australian Government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling (2010-11). He is an editorial board member of the journal Independent Gambling Studies. He is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia and the National Association of Gambling Studies (Australia), and of the Australian Greens. He has not received research or other funding or support from and has not entered into any collaborative agreements with any gambling, alcohol or tobacco industry body. No funding was received from any source in relation to the preparation of this article.</span></em></p>Casino gaming is on the rise across much of the developed world, with governments increasingly unable to resist the allure of windfall taxes and a hefty influx of cash for the local economy. Massachusetts…Rebecca Cassidy, Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonCharles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, Global Health and Society, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/323462014-10-28T09:37:46Z2014-10-28T09:37:46ZWill gambling be good for the people of Massachusetts? The evidence suggests not<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60428/original/d82sfzg3-1412088851.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">An artist's rendering of Wynn's proposed $1.6 billion casino on the Mystic River, Everett.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,<em>Question_3</em>(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals and pressure groups resisting the expansion of commercial gambling in both the US and abroad. </p>
<p>The reaction comes after three decades of states around the world legislating to introduce more sophisticated and pervasive forms of gambling, in a move that marries <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12050/abstract">the revenue needs of governments</a> with the industry’s desire for profits. </p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21188851">mutually beneficial relationship</a> between states and gambling has created a <a href="http://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">powerful multi-national industry</a> equivalent in scale to Big Tobacco, which researchers recently dubbed “Big Gambling.”</p>
<p>Proponents of gambling, and particularly large casinos, argue that increased taxes, as well as job and wealth creation, contribute to the revitalization of local economies and pay for a range of important public services. </p>
<p>Such a case has been made for the planned resort casino in Boston, with supporters emphasizing the <a href="http://ggbnews.com/issue/vol-12-no-36-september-22-20142015/article/wynning-bid-in-boston">boost to tourism and the creation of local jobs</a> and a transport infrastructure that the billion dollar venture would bring.</p>
<p>However, critics point out that gambling only redistributes existing money, but does not generate much new wealth. In fact, it can have a detrimental effect on the surrounding economy as <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34552_en.pdf">leisure spending is diverted</a> away from local businesses. Every dollar spent in a casino is a dollar that might have been spent in local restaurants, cinemas or shops. </p>
<p>Casinos tend only to deliver economic benefits when they attract <a href="http://www.commonwealthmagazine.org/Voices/Back-Story/2014/Summer/010-Running-the-casino-numbers.aspx#.VEZ7pvnF-8Q">international high-rollers</a> rather than locals. High-rollers spend – and lose – large sums of money that benefit the region. Locals, by contrast, simply deplete the more limited resources of residents, to the cost of the local economy as a whole. Australian research, for example, has found that only around <a href="http://www.auscasinos.com/assets/files/pdf/TheAustralianCasinoIndustry-EconomicContribution-0203.pdf">5% of Australian casino customers are international tourists</a>, contributing some 18% of revenue, while locals make up the majority of players – as well as <a href="http://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">the majority of revenue</a>.</p>
<h2>Problem gambling</h2>
<p>Alongside these (contested) economic benefits, researchers have shown that the growth of commercial gambling also brings a range of negative impacts for individuals, their families and communities. </p>
<p>Problem and pathological gambling has been recognised as a mental health issue since the 1980s, and was <a href="http://www.dsm5.org/Pages/Default.aspx">recently re-categorised</a> by the American Psychiatric Association as an addiction. Surveys from around the world estimate that between 0.6 and 4% of people experience problems with gambling, with the <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34552_en.pdf">highest figures concentrated</a> among the economically disadvantaged, ethnic minorities and the young. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/60435/original/jwtcny92-1412089637.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=441&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The proposed Wynn casino is likely to make more money from locals than high-rollers.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although these numbers may appear relatively small, such players account for a large proportion of gambling losses, with some studies suggesting that between <a href="http://ann.sagepub.com/content/556/1/153">a third and a half of casino profits</a> come from this group. </p>
<p>Those suffering from gambling problems experience debt, bankruptcy, the loss of their jobs, homes and relationships, as well as <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/gambling-2009">depression and suicide</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/62216/">My own research</a> has shown that the problems associated with gambling extend well beyond the individual, and ripple out to affect their wider families, workplaces and communities. </p>
<p>The loss of money and time involved in excess gambling impacts gamblers’ social relationships in a range of ways. Relationships and marriages can be undermined or destroyed through lack of trust and loss of shared funds. Workplaces suffer from employee absenteeism, lost productivity and fraud, while the children of people with gambling problems do less well at school, and are more likely to truant and develop gambling problems themselves as they get older.</p>
<p>Research carried out in the US has found that proximity to casinos increases the levels of these problems in the local population, with those living within ten miles of a casino having approximately <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">double the rates of gambling problems</a> than those who live further afield. </p>
<p>Certain games are more strongly associated with these kinds of negative social impacts than others; in particular electronic gaming machines which have a high “event frequency” which makes it possible to bet – and lose – very quickly.</p>
<h2>A tax on the poor</h2>
<p>Western-style casinos, such as the one proposed in Massachusetts, are dominated by these machines, which account for some <a href="http://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">40% of casino profits</a>, as well as a contributing to <a href="http://www.gla.ac.uk/media/media_34551_en.pdf">high levels of problem gambling</a>.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/ngisc/index.html.">National Gambling Impact Study Commission</a> found, the expansion of gambling when a new casino comes into town is seen by some residents as undermining the quality of life, damaging local businesses and bringing about increased levels of crime, traffic and anti-social behaviour. </p>
<p>Research from <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/230779781_Modelling_vulnerability_to_gambling_related_harm_how_disadvantage_predicts_gambling_losses">Australia</a>, <a href="http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/73285/7/73285.pdf">Great Britain</a> and <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/266349/neighborhood-and-gambling.pdf">America</a> has also consistently shown that it is low income and ethnic minority groups and communities who are most affected by the global spread of gambling.</p>
<p>Such a distribution reveals that the revenue raised through gambling is a <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Selling_hope.html?id=VtuxAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">highly regressive</a>, and damaging, form of taxation.</p>
<p>It is against this backdrop that groups and communities have begun to mobilize to counter the spread of gambling. Massachusetts’ “Repeal the Casino Deal” group has its counterpart in Britain’s “Campaign for Fairer Gambling”, and Australian politician Nick Xenophon’s single ticket “no pokies” policy. (“Pokies” is the Australian term for slot machines.)</p>
<p>As awareness of negative social impacts grows, local resistance is increasingly demanding that legislatures re-think the consequences of the global expansion of gambling. </p>
<p><em>This article is part of a series on gambling in America. You can read the rest of the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/gambling-in-america">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gerda Reith has received funding for her research from a range of organisations including the Economic and Social Research Council, the Scottish Government and the Responsibility in Gambling Trust. All her research is independent, and the views expressed in this article are her own. She is affiliated with The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board - the independent body that advises the Gambling Commission </span></em></p>The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,Question_3(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals…Gerda Reith, Professor of Social Science, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/330242014-10-17T01:59:18Z2014-10-17T01:59:18ZEffective gambling regulation is not just ‘red tape’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61918/original/dtpx6wgc-1413423872.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Recent changes to gambling regulation in Queensland will allow for a rapid expansion of the industry.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Queensland government has <a href="http://www.anglicanchurchsq.org.au/images/pdf/SocialJustice/AnglicanChurchSQ_Soc_Responsibilities_Committee_Pokies_Gambling_FINAL_290914.pdf">recently implemented changes</a> to poker machine regulation under the banner of “red tape reduction”. Some of these are relatively minor at first glance; others have more obvious prima facie impact. All are designed to reduce the burden on industry and allow for the expansion of the gambling industry.</p>
<p>The big winners are clubs, which can now increase the number of electronic gambling machines (EGMs) they operate from 280 to 500 across multiple venues, with a maximum of 300 in any venue. Clubs also no longer have to locate new venues within their original community of interest – whether geographic or otherwise. A club with its origins in far north Queensland, or the far west, can now open a new venue in southeast Queensland – where the money is – with 300 EGMs in it.</p>
<p>Venue operators can also decide to pay winnings up to A$5000 in cash if they wish. Under previous rules, jackpot winnings were issued via cheque. The few winners had some chance of seeing that money if it were paid by cheque.</p>
<p>Now, in many cases, the cash is likely to quickly find its way back into the EGMs. As the Productivity Commission <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/95680/gambling-report-volume1.pdf">observed</a>, 30% of those who gamble regularly on EGMs have difficulties in controlling gambling spending. </p>
<p>This risk is exacerbated by another change – allowing EGMs to accept any Australian bank note. Previously, these were limited to $20 notes. A $5000 payout in $50 or $100 notes can now be slotted back into the machines without first being changed. </p>
<p>Two natural brakes on dangerous behaviour have thus been removed.</p>
<h2>The Victorian system</h2>
<p>In Victoria, a coalition of local councils and their peak bodies recently launched a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/EnoughPokies">campaign</a> for changes to the way EGM entitlements are decided. In Victoria, applicants (local venues) lodge an application detailing their proposal. Local governments have a right to respond to this within 60 days and may object. </p>
<p>The matter is heard and decided by the Victorian Commission for Liquor and Gambling Regulation (VCGLR). If either party is dissatisfied, there is an avenue for review by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).</p>
<p>The Victorian system is probably the most transparent in Australia. Councils are notified and have a right to participate, and applications are generally heard in public. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, in Victoria, applicants are <a href="http://www.vcgr.vic.gov.au/CA256F800017E8D4/VCGLR/F5A038E692164641CA257B32007816CE?OpenDocument">overwhelmingly successful</a>, despite often well-argued and expensive cases run by councils. Between July 2008 and September 2014 there were 154 VCGLR decisions on new venues or increases to venue size. Of these, 140 (91%) were granted in full, three (2%) were partly granted, and 11 (7%) were unsuccessful.</p>
<p>In the 68 cases where the council opposed the application, 57 were wholly successful (83.8%) and three partly successful (4.4%). Eight (11.8%) were unsuccessful. The success rate where a council opposes the application is thus a little less favourable to applicants than that overall, but not much.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.mav.asn.au/policy-services/social-community/community-safety/Gambling%20%20related%20documents/Counting%20the%20cost%20-%20Inquiry%20into%20the%20costs%20of%20problem%20gambling%20draft%20report.docx">submission</a> prepared for the Victorian Commission for Efficiency and Competition in 2012 determined that the average cost to councils of a VCGLR submission was more than $37,000, with a range from $10,000 to $110,000. This does not include VCAT appeals. Applicants typically employ expertise in the form of solicitors, barristers and expert witnesses. These expenses are a business cost deduction. Conversely, councils struggle to fund their cases. </p>
<p>The test to be met is that the application, if granted, would result in “no net detriment” to the local council area. Unfortunately, this test lacks precision. Usually, applicants rely on quantifiable factors such as the amount to be spent on renovations, the payment of a modest community benefit, or some calculation of the jobs to be created by the proposal. Social impacts <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/16066359.2012.680079">are minimised</a> and, lacking data on local suicide, divorce, bankruptcy or problem gambling rates, are generally negated by the alleged economic benefits. </p>
<p>That such social impact data, particularly data on problem gambling prevalence, are not actually available meaningfully is ignored. Relevant concepts or research findings are not considered unless they relate specifically to the venue or area. For the most part, that means they are not considered.</p>
<p>Also, the community of interest for these decisions is the entire council area. However, it is very often the case that many metro councils are far from socioeconomically cohesive. Maribyrnong in inner-west Melbourne incorporates both Yarraville and Braybrook. Yarraville is heavily gentrified and affluent, and according to the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/2033.0.55.0012011?OpenDocument">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> is in the top 30% for socioeconomic advantage in Victoria. Braybrook is in the bottom 10%. </p>
<p>Even at the council level the disparity is startling. The highest level of per capita losses in 2013-14 was in Greater Dandenong, in the top 10% of most disadvantaged councils in Victoria, where EGM density was 8.4 per 1000 adults and per adult spending was $984. Boroondara, in Melbourne’s affluent inner-east, had a density of 1.5 EGMs per 1000 adults and expenditure of $140 per adult, and sits in the top 10% for socioeconomic status. </p>
<h2>Pokie machine distribution</h2>
<p>In most of Australia, EGM distribution is <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">skewed towards disadvantaged areas</a>. Having big venues nearby is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/too-close-to-home-people-who-live-near-pokie-venues-at-risk-20771">big factor</a> in the development of gambling problems. Under existing regulatory arrangements, this continues.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2014/1192.html">decision</a> by VCAT allowed the location of more EGMs in Braybrook, despite what many might regard as obvious saturation and disadvantage. Originally, VCGLR <a href="http://www.vcgr.vic.gov.au/CA25766E0010A233/02D2676D859EBAFCCA257D720016475D/$file/Reasons%20for%20decision.pdf">disallowed</a> the application. VCAT overturned it, applying the existing test. </p>
<p>What local councils want is a “net benefit” test, where the applicant has to demonstrate how their application will produce real benefits for a local community. They want social impacts to be weighted at least as significantly as economic factors, and they want decision-makers to take into account useful data from any source.</p>
<p>Councils also want the community to be the object of the decision – not a highly diverse and heterogeneous council area, which is likely to change unrecognisably from one end to the other.</p>
<p>These are modest reforms but they may well have a very significant impact on the way EGMs are distributed in Victoria. In Queensland, the changes introduced under the guise of reducing red tape are also seemingly modest. But in both cases, they are capable of making a big difference to the way gambling affects local communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33024/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone is a Chief Investigator on a current Australian Research Council Grant investigating the mechanisms of industry influence of government by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Gambling industries. He has previously received grants from the Victorian Gambling Research Panel and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority, and an international partner grant from the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Council, organisations which distribute funds derived from the proceeds of gambling. He has also received funding from local government and non-government organisations in relation to (i) the provision of expert evidence in relation to gambling applications including the Braybrook Hotel matter discussed in this article and (ii) for specific research projects focused on aspects of gambling policy, the costs of problem gambling, distribution of gambling derived-harm, and the extent to which gambling funds provide community benefits, including for research supporting the development of policy positions on gambling by the Municipal Association of Victoria, including its position on the 'Enough Pokies' campaign referred to in this article and the Anglican Church of Southern Qld Social responsibilities committee for research into the 'red tape reduction' program of the Qld government, also referred to in this article. He was a member of the Australian Government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling (2010-11). He is an editorial board member of the journal International Gambling Studies. He is a member of the Public Health Association of Australia and the National Association of Gambling Studies (Australia), and of the Australian Greens. He has not received research or other funding or support from and has not entered into any collaborative agreements with any gambling, alcohol or tobacco industry body. No funding was received from any source in relation to the preparation of this article.</span></em></p>The Queensland government has recently implemented changes to poker machine regulation under the banner of “red tape reduction”. Some of these are relatively minor at first glance; others have more obvious…Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, Global Health and Society, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/229312014-06-25T04:23:02Z2014-06-25T04:23:02ZA $1 maximum bet on pokies would reduce gambling harm<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52132/original/39hfpy96-1403657836.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines, as has been proposed in Victoria, might not end problem gambling, but it would certainly reduce its harmful effects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Tracey Nearmy</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Greens have tabled a bill in the Victorian parliament that would introduce a maximum bet of $1 per spin for the state’s 30,000 poker machines. While the bill is almost certain to fail, the introduction of $1 maximum bets would allow the poker machine industry to truthfully argue it was focused on providing enjoyment and fun to patrons – a claim it can’t, in good faith, make at the moment.</p>
<p>Poker machines in pubs and clubs are supposedly entertainment options for patrons: one of a number of diversions intended to provide harmless amusement. As currently configured, however, they produce <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/95691/08-chapter5.pdf">significant harm</a> for 30% of regular users. This is highly inconsistent with their supposed purpose. </p>
<p>In Victoria, club and pub poker machines are set to a $5 maximum bet, meaning they can readily accrue $600 average net revenue per hour. In NSW, with maximum bets of $10 per spin, they can make an average <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/95697/14-chapter11.pdf">$1200 per hour</a>. Naturally, the revenue they make is equivalent to the losses incurred by users – across Australia, club and pub poker machines account for 54%, or $11 billion, of our annual gambling losses of $20.5 billion. </p>
<p>This is a staggering amount of money, especially when we note that machines are generally concentrated in our <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-wins-from-big-gambling-in-australia-22930">most disadvantaged suburbs</a>. One of the principal reasons for this is that working-class suburbs are <a href="http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/16066359.2012.727507">overwhelmingly subject</a> to the colonisation of traditional social spaces (in clubs and pubs) by the poker machine industry.</p>
<p>The last federal attempt to reign in the almost unlimited money-making capacity of poker machines was the introduction of a pre-commitment system to allow gamblers to decide how much they wanted to spend before they started gambling. This – not unreasonable – proposition was met with <a href="http://inside.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">fierce resistance</a> from the gambling industry, and was ultimately defeated. </p>
<p>However, this push began with independent federal MP Andrew Wilkie’s request for the introduction of a $1 maximum bet, which was subsequently translated by then-prime minister Julia Gillard’s office into an agreement to introduce pre-commitment.</p>
<p>The $1 bet was also proposed by the <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/95697/14-chapter11.pdf">Productivity Commission</a> and by the federal parliament’s <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/senate/committee/gamblingreform_ctte/precommitment_scheme/report/report.pdf">Joint Select Committee into Gambling Reform</a>, which Wilkie chaired. A <a href="http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/ctee/House/Reports/Gaming%20Control%20Amendment%20%20Bill%202010%20_$1%20Bet%20Limit_%20%20Final%20Report.pdf">select committee of the Tasmanian parliament</a> also gave it a positive review, but did not recommend its adoption because of the reform moves then underway at the national level.</p>
<p>The original evidence for $1 bets in an Australian context came from a <a href="http://www.psych.usyd.edu.au/gambling/GIO_report.pdf">study</a> by the University of Sydney’s Alex Blaszczynski and colleagues in 2001, and funded by the NSW gambling industry. This report, for the Gaming Industry Operators Group, was a response to suggestions by the NSW regulator to modify poker machine characteristics in order to reduce harm. </p>
<p>However, the Blaszczynski report suggested there would be some positive effects from the $1 maximum bet, and from some other machine modifications. It concluded that these were preliminary results and should be subjected to verification by further research. Subsequent <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14459790500303378?queryID=%24%7BresultBean.queryID%7D#.U6kUppS1YpA">scholarly</a> <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10899-005-5560-8">articles</a> by the same research team suggested that reductions in maximum bets produced a positive harm-minimisation effect without reducing amenity for non-problem gamblers.</p>
<p>We can also learn from the British example, where slot machines are categorised according to their maximum bets and prizes, and permitted in specific venues according to such categorisation. There is currently <a href="http://www.stopthefobts.org/what-are-fobts/">great concern</a> in Britain about high impact gambling machines in betting shops, and for good reason. Fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) allow bets up to £100 with maximum prizes of up to £500. </p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/Industry%20statistics%20-%20April%202008%20to%20March%202011.pdf">2010-11</a>, these machines accounted for £1.3 billion of the £1.9 billion spent on slot machines outside casinos (69%), despite constituting only about 24% of those machines. FOBTs averaged revenue of more than £40,000 per year compared to the average revenue of no more than £13,000 for machines with maximum bets of no more than £1 or £2, and maximum prizes of between £70 and £500.</p>
<p>However, the UK situation is different. In Australia, club venues are allowed to have hundreds of poker machines in some jurisdictions, and Australian poker machines typically have maximum prizes of $10,000. In the UK, betting shops are restricted to four FOBTs, with prizes as set out above. But what the UK experience demonstrates is the relationship between high bet limits, massive expenditure, and significant gambling harm.</p>
<p>The current $5 maximum bet was introduced into Victoria between 2008 and 2010 without fanfare and without industry opposition. Despite claims to the contrary by the gambling lobby, a $1 maximum bet could be implemented at modest cost to industry if phased in over a period of time, as the Greens bill proposes.</p>
<p>The introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines might not end problem gambling, but it would certainly reduce its <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/95691/08-chapter5.pdf">harmful effects</a>, since 80% of problem gambling is associated with poker machine use. It is highly likely to reduce the harm experienced by gamblers and limit the uptake of new problem gamblers. After all, chasing huge losses is one of the common early stages in a problem gambling career.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22931/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone was a member of the Australian Government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling between 2011 and 2012. He is a member of the Australian Greens.</span></em></p>The Greens have tabled a bill in the Victorian parliament that would introduce a maximum bet of $1 per spin for the state’s 30,000 poker machines. While the bill is almost certain to fail, the introduction…Charles Livingstone, Senior Lecturer, Global Health and Society, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/229302014-03-05T19:22:57Z2014-03-05T19:22:57ZWho wins from ‘Big Gambling’ in Australia?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43043/original/5bw2snj7-1393903652.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Crown Limited, the casino empire majority owned by James Packer, earned $490 million in profit in the last financial year – no wonder he's laughing.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong><em>The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Francis Markham and Martin Young explain why the deregulation of gambling in Australia is a long-standing example of class warfare from above.</em></strong></p>
<hr>
<p>The growth of “Big Gambling” in Australia is an ongoing class project. It is one that has transferred, with industrial efficiency, billions of dollars from the pay packets of the working classes to the bank accounts of a super-rich elite.</p>
<p>In 1970s Australia, gambling opportunities <a href="http://assets.justice.vic.gov.au/vcglr/resources/bb81f943-d854-40de-8bab-b09d8bbd610f/australiangamblingcomparativehistory.pdf">were limited</a>. The most popular form of gambling was horse race betting. Aside from on-course bookmakers, governments, via TABs, controlled this activity. </p>
<p>Lotteries were similarly government-owned in all states bar Victoria. Sports betting was illegal. </p>
<p>Pokies were clunky, mechanical, single-line affairs. The machines accepted only smaller-denomination coins and were restricted to clubs in NSW and the ACT. Pokies were prohibited even in the four British-styled casinos in the Northern Territory and Tasmania.</p>
<p>Fast forward to 2014 and Big Gambling is ascendant. Pokies have become ubiquitous in pubs and clubs across Australia (except in Western Australia). </p>
<p>Compared to their mechanical predecessors, electronic poker machines are more profitable for the gambling industry and more dangerous to gamblers. Australian company Aristocrat Leisure pioneered the development of <a href="http://www.natashadowschull.org/">linked jackpots and multiline games</a>. These machines encourage gamblers to <a href="http://www.gamblingresearch.org.au/resources/7191ec23-dcba-4cc8-ae13-c8ba1ae7c37b/gr_aegm_jackpotsreporv3.pdf">stake higher amounts</a> and give the <a href="http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/ding-you-lost-congratulations/822/">misleading impression of frequent wins and near-misses</a>, encouraging gamblers to continue playing for longer periods.</p>
<p>Casinos have been legalised in every state and territory. Despite their rhetoric about targeting “high-rollers”, Australian casinos continue to earn most of their income from the <a href="https://theconversation.com/packers-barangaroo-casino-and-the-inevitability-of-pokies-15892">local “grind” market</a>. Casino development is accelerating. Four new casinos are <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-are-the-odds-new-casinos-lead-to-social-harm-19161">planned for NSW and Queensland</a> in the coming years. </p>
<p>Lotteries have been privatised in every state and territory. Betting, once confined to the trackside and government-owned TABs, has been privatised and deregulated. Odds are available on more sports than ever before and “exotic” bets have transformed even the most banal moment in a sporting match into a money-making bonanza for corporate bookmakers. </p>
<p>The legalisation of internet wagering has made gambling accessible 24 hours a day, wherever a smartphone can be connected. And the final frontier of gambling liberalisation, online casino-style gambling, was recommended for staged liberalisation by the Productivity Commission in its <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/95701/18-chapter15.pdf">2010 review</a>.</p>
<p>With such unprecedented opportunities to gamble, Australia has been <a href="http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2014/2/7/gaming-and-racing/australians-are-world-leading-gamblers-houses-winnings-are">dubbed</a> the gambling capital of the world. Australians lose more money gambling per person than <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2014/02/daily-chart-0">any other nation</a>. According to the <a href="http://www.oesr.qld.gov.au/products/publications/aus-gambling-stats/aus-gambling-stats-29th-edn-aus-gambling-stats-29th-edn-product-tables.pdf#page=242">latest official statistics</a>, Australians lost over A$20 billion gambling in 2011-12, a figure that excludes losses on overseas websites. And gambling is rapidly becoming part of how we <a href="https://theconversation.com/born-to-bet-four-corners-on-the-tom-waterhouse-media-effect-14503">define ourselves as consumers</a>.</p>
<p>But for an estimated <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/95691/08-chapter5.pdf">80,000 to 160,000 Australians</a>, gambling leads to financial, family and psychological problems, and sometimes crime and suicide. As a group, these so-called “problem gamblers” <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/82554/gambling3.pdf#page=313">lose a disproportionate amount</a> of money gambling. They contribute a staggering 40% of the total money <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/95707/24-appendixb.pdf">lost on poker machines</a>. </p>
<p>Given this, it is difficult to imagine a viable gambling industry without “problem gamblers”.</p>
<p>It is similarly difficult to imagine a viable gambling industry without rampant exploitation of the Australian working classes. Both gambling venues and gambling problems are concentrated among the poorest social groups in Australia. </p>
<p>In the western Sydney local government area of Fairfield, for example, which is among the poorest 12% of local government areas in Australia, each adult resident lost an average of A$2340 on the pokies in 2010-11. Across the harbour in Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby, whose residents are among the richest 6% in Australia, poker machine losses were just $270 per adult.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42235/original/rnfh9gqk-1393113940.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Problem gambling and class in the Northern Territory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Martin Young, Bruce Doran and Francis Markham</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our own research in the Northern Territory confirmed these class associations. As the figure on the right shows, 2.9% of working-class respondents and 5.0% of unemployed respondents were classified as problem gamblers, compared to just 1.3% of middle-class and 1.6% of self-employed people.</p>
<p>The money lost on gambling by Australia’s working classes flows directly to state and territory treasuries and the gambling industry’s pockets. While around a quarter of gambling losses, (<a href="http://www.oesr.qld.gov.au/products/publications/aus-gambling-stats/aus-gambling-stats-29th-edn-aus-gambling-stats-29th-edn-product-tables.pdf#page=247">$5.5 billion in 2011-12</a>), ends up in state coffers, the remaining $15 billion a year ends up in the hands of “not-for-profit” clubs and private sector companies.</p>
<p>Only a small fraction of club sector poker machine profits, often justified on the basis of <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBTS_LBXcM">community benefit</a>, are returned by clubs to the community. For example, in 2010-11, clubs in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT spent respectively 1.3%, 2.4%, 2.3% and 6.6% of poker machine losses on <a href="http://www.unitingcare.org.au/images/stories/publications/2012/120412_pub_rep_UA-Monash_Assessment_of_poker_machine_expenditure_and_community_benefit_claims_in_selected_Commonwealth_Electoral_Divisions.pdf#page=14">community benefits</a>. </p>
<p>The remaining pokie profits are, according to data from Clubs NSW, mostly spent <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/87665/sub164a.pdf#page=136">subsidising “other” activities</a> such as “donations, cash grants, abnormal and extraordinary and other expenses”. In the ACT, for example, gamblers lost <a href="http://www.gamblingandracing.act.gov.au/Documents/Community%20Contribution%20Reports/2012-13%20Community%20Contributions%20Report.pdf#page=26">over $16 million</a> in 2012-13 playing the 271 pokies at the Canberra Labor Group’s network of clubs. Of these takings, $4.2 million was <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-24/labor-club-funding-transfer/3790074">promptly transferred</a> to the ACT Labor Party.</p>
<p>Commercial gambling has also minted a new class of super-rich individuals. Australia’s second-richest person, James Packer, has poured his considerable inheritance into casinos and profited massively. His <a href="http://calvinayre.com/2012/12/29/casino/packer-acquires-majority-control-crown-ltd-skycity-queenstown-casino/">majority-owned</a> Crown Limited made a $490 million profit last year, bringing his <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/business/rich_get_richer_our_top_billionaires_O0X7PZ1oAhqQAKBnW8Xo1L">personal wealth to $7.7 billion</a>.</p>
<p>While Packer’s wealth was partly inherited, Len Ainsworth made his entire fortune from pioneering the <a href="http://epubs.scu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1330&context=tourism_pubs&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com.au%2Fscholar%3Fhl%3Den%26q%3D%2522australian%2Bslot%2Bmachines%2522%26btnG%3D%26as_sdt%3D1%252C5%26as_sdtp%3D#search=%22australian%20slot%20machines%22">“Australian” multiline poker machines</a>. Casino owners around the world favour these machines because of their ability to maximise profits.</p>
<p>After founding both Aristocrat Leisure and Ainsworth Game Technology (AGT), the Ainsworth <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/len_ainsworth_and_famil_cH7cA6WwBegb2phOJ4TDGO">family wealth</a> is estimated to exceed $1.5 billion. <a href="http://www.aristocrat.com.au/Investors/Documents/Aristocrat%202013%20Annual%20Report.pdf#page=19">Aristocrat</a> and <a href="http://irmau.test.irmau.com/irm/publications/2013/AGI/files/assets/common/downloads/Ainsworth%20Game%20Technology%20Annual%20Report%202013.pdf#page=9">AGT</a> combined sold over $300 million worth of new pokies in Australia alone in 2012-13.</p>
<p>Hotel owners have likewise shared the spoils, especially Woolworths and its joint-venture partners. <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/bruce_mathieson_YpP5uQhhVWGjO4MfGpizZI">Bruce Mathieson</a>, partner in Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group, has amassed $1.2 billion, while <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/shout_the_bar_arthur_laundy_toasts_LatzwKR8lpkwyEcSQWok3K">Arthur Laundy</a>, Woolworths’ partner in the Laundy Hotel Group, owns pub assets worth $310 million. </p>
<p>Other businessmen to profit from gambling liberalisation include <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/cyril_maloney_CuH8Z5mtBqU03SvK1ZqkwI">Cyril Maloney</a> ($360 million, pub magnate), <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/rich-200/2013/john_singleton_OsBVij8mTGAFUeT6ckAAhP">John Singleton</a> ($355 million, also pubs), the <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/family-may-punt-on-sportingbet-after-buyout-the-kafataris-clan-is-considering-whether-to-stay-in-betting/story-e6frg8zx-1226065966357">Kafataris family</a> ($110 million, Centrebet founders) and <a href="http://www.brw.com.au/p/lists/young-rich/2013/young_rich_matthew_tripp_JqOOrsvUpcUHudSESSA7oI">Matthew Tripp</a> ($115 million, former Sportsbet owner).</p>
<p>Underpinning the gambling industry’s massive transfer of wealth from poor to rich lies a sophisticated (and sometimes <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/04/11/singo-hits-the-jackpot-with-pro-pokies-punting-licence-campaign/">not so sophisticated</a>) propaganda that positions gambling as a form of desirable entertainment on the one hand, and a supposed source of economic prosperity on the other. </p>
<p>The current arguments about <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/89742/sub175-attachment2.pdf">GDP and employment growth</a>, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/15/campbell-newman-plans-three-new-casinos-in-queensland">better entertainment facilities</a> and <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/13686/technicalpaper10.pdf#page=6">increased revenue for public spending</a> are largely unchanged since the Victorian government introduced pokies in 1992 (see video below).</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fxMgfljKrSY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Victorian premier Joan Kirner proclaiming the benefits of poker machine liberalisation in Victoria.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The claim that Big Gambling is a source of economic prosperity is dubious. Gambling industries do not <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/95692/09-chapter6.pdf">create “new jobs”</a>. They simply divert employment from other sectors that are actually more labour-intensive. </p>
<p>Gambling does not <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=gzqXdHXxxeAC&lpg=PA267&pg=PA267#v=onepage&q&f=false">create new wealth</a>. It merely transfers wealth from poor to rich and may in fact reduce economic activity due to diverting gamblers from productive labour.</p>
<p>The argument that the transformation of pubs and clubs into a network of nationally linked mini-casinos has provided more entertainment is equally suspect. Public attitude surveys have consistently suggested that pokies destroy entertainment possibilities. As far back as 1999, 54.6% of the adult population <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/49234/summary.pdf">disagreed</a> with the statement that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gambling has provided more opportunities for recreational enjoyment. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Pokies, especially in pubs, have been associated with the <a href="http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/resources/reports_and_publications/artforms/music/vanishing_acts_an_inquiry_into_the_state_of_live_popular_music_opportunities_in_nsw">decline of the live music industry</a>. And the new casinos, such as at Barangaroo in Sydney, simply don’t fund entertainment for the general public. According to Crown, the casino is required to <a href="http://www.crownresorts.com.au/CrownResorts/files/5b/5bd0ec73-b1fb-416a-a49a-238f5612d5d6.pdf#page=90">cross-subsidise</a> the new “six star” hotel, the hospitality of which will inevitably be limited to a rich elite.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=915&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/43048/original/fjkvbks9-1393905543.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1149&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pokies have become ubiquitous in pubs and clubs across Australia, except for WA.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Dean Lewins</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In terms of public revenues, gambling does swell the state’s purse. But this revenue is highly regressive in that it is generated through the exploitation of working-class suburbs (see the map above) and relies heavily on gambling addicts’ losses.</p>
<p>This level of class-based exploitation is only possible because the gambling super-rich are willing to use their money and influence to reinforce their class position. Political power is used to block reform. For example, there was a concerted and ultimately successful effort to <a href="http://inside.org.au/the-lobby-group-that-got-much-more-bang-for-its-buck/">sabotage the Wilkie pokie reforms</a>, despite their <a href="http://lyceum.anu.edu.au/wp-content/blogs/3/uploads/ANUpoll-%20Gambling1.pdf">overwhelming public popularity</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, <a href="http://powerhouse.theglobalmail.org/altruistic-political-donations-wanna-bet/">donations to the major political parties</a> (mainly the Liberal and National parties) from Clubs NSW and the Australian Hotels Association peaked at a total of $1.3 million in the final quarter of 2010.</p>
<p>Political power is also used proactively to further deregulaton. Clubs in NSW <a href="http://www.maynereport.com/images/2012/05/13-16W2YUFKW00.pdf">gained</a> further tax concessions and the entitlement to offer new “electronic table games”. More outrageously, the so-called “unsolicited proposal” for the new Sydney casino by James Packer <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-seen-by-the-minister-how-lack-of-probity-clouds-our-democracy-10870">avoided a competitive tender process</a> and selected <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/packer-on-a-good-thing-roll-your-own-tax-rate-20130705-2phha.html">its own tax rate</a>. </p>
<p>This is after Packer’s late father, Kerry, <a href="http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/publications.nsf/0/de920d27acd8d788ca256ecf00096910/$FILE/16-96.pdf#page=48">lost a competitive tender process</a> for the first Sydney casino in the 1990s, despite allegedly <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ns72Z60THo8C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q&f=false">threatening a former NSW government</a> with political death should the bid be unsuccessful.</p>
<p>The liberalisation of gambling, especially pokies, has enabled the dramatic redistribution of resources from Australia’s working classes to the country’s wealthy elite. Members of this group use their enormous power and influence to directly sway politicians and policymakers. </p>
<p>These changes have not occurred because of liberated consumers who have chosen, and demanded, that 200,000 poker machines be installed across the country. It has been an exercise in class warfare from above, based on the calculated, industrial-scale exploitation of Australia’s working classes by a super-rich elite.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>See the other articles in the series Class in Australia <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/class-in-australia">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22930/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Francis Markham holds an Australian Postgraduate Award from the Commonwealth government. He has previously been employed on projects jointly funded by the Australian Research Council (LP0990584) and the Community Benefit Fund of the Northern Territory.
Like many Australians, he is unsure if he holds shares in Big Gambling via his Unisuper superannuation account, but plans to find out shortly.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Young is the lead investigator on ARC Linkages Project LP0990584: Gambling-Related Harm in Northern Australia, a project co-funded by the Northern Territory Community Benefit Fund (which is raised via a tax on pokie-gambling in pubs). In addition to his SCU position, he is an Honorary Fellow at the Menzies School of Health Research, Darwin, and a Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU. </span></em></p>The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Francis Markham and Martin Young explain why the deregulation of gambling in…Francis Markham, PhD Candidate, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityMartin Young, Associate Professor, Centre for Gambling Education and Research, Southern Cross UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.