Many Australians don’t realise that, per person, we have the highest level of online gambling on sport in the world. This is causing serious problems in our society, including domestic violence, family breakdown, suicide, poverty and crime. The Australian Government is introducing laws to curb the harms caused by online gambling. However, these laws don’t go far enough to prevent online gambling addiction and to protect families from harm.
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In 2023, the late Peta Murphy MP handed down a landmark government report into online gambling harm called, ‘You win some, you lose more’. The report found that Australians are the worst gamblers in the world and that this is causing severe social problems. The total socio-economic cost of online gambling in Australia has been estimated to be around $27 billion per year. This includes the losses of individual gamblers and the cost of psychological, health and relationships harm.
While all forms of gambling cause harm, online gambling is of particular concern because it can be carried out on a mobile phone at any time or day of the week. It is also becoming increasingly part of sport in Australia. Children and young men are particularly vulnerable to online gambling advertising.
The Australian Government has recently announced that it will introduce new laws to address some of the issues raised in the Murphy report. While this is a positive step forward, the package is lacking in three key areas:
- Online gambling needs to be completely regulated nationally by the Australian Government. This is necessary to prevent the gambling industry from exploiting loopholes within state and territory laws and to ensure an effective long-term strategy is implemented to address online gambling harm.
- Online gambling advertising needs to be completely banned during live sports broadcasts, including the pre- and post-event programs, and generally during children’s programs.
- Financial inducements need to be completely banned given that they increase problem gambling.
Further information can be obtained from:
- This recent ABC article: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-30/liberal-backbencher-teacher-aa/106859816
- The Alliance for Gambling Reform website: https://www.agr.org.au/onlinegamblingreform
- The Government’s proposed reforms: https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/media-communications/media-gambling-laws-regulation/gambling/gambling-reforms-2026
- The Government’s economic analysis: https://oia.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/posts/2026/04/Wagering%20Advertising%20Reform%20-%20Impact%20Analysis.pdf
