A new report detailing the scope of Australians’ gambling losses is fueling new demands for extensive gaming reform from Aussie anti-gambling groups. The Alliance for Gambling Reform pounced on the report from the Queensland government pointing out that Aussie gambling losses have climbed from $25 billion in 2018-2019 to $32 billion in 2022-2023. Those losses, the group says, are all the impetus the government needs to implement serious, and severe restrictions on gambling operators.
Most of the losses detailed in the report came from Australia’s home-grown version of the slot machine, the Poker machines or Pokie. Pokies accounted for $15 billion of the total loss count on their own, with sports betting accounting for another $9 billion. Sports betting gobbled up another $9 billion of Aussie cash in 2022-2023. While those numbers pale compared to the monthly gaming take in a place like Nevada, Australia’s entire population is only 26 million.
Not surprisingly, Martin Thomas, CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform had thoughts on the report, and those thoughts included a nationwide ban on gambling advertising. “Australians lose more to gambling than any other nation in the world because we have a grossly inadequate regulatory regime in which the gambling industry has been allowed to operate virtually unchecked causing devastation to individuals, families and communities.
“These latest horrifying loss figures underscore the importance of the Federal Government adopting all 31 recommendations of the Murphy Report including a full ban on gambling advertising on broadcast media and online. It also proves the need for a national strategy on gambling and the formation of a national regulator,” he said in comments reported on by the Guardian.
While that state of gambling reform in Australia is a continually developing story, these latest numbers are certain to be a factor in the implementation of new gaming regulations moving forward.