Gambling reforms: what is gambling and why is it a problem?

There’s been a lot of talk in the media recently about the government’s new gambling reforms. Many people, including experts, have said new legislation aimed at protecting kids and young people from problematic gambling hasn’t gone far enough. Let’s take a look at what gambling is, why it is so harmful and why experts like the Barefoot Investor Scott Pape think the government should be doing more to protect our youngest citizens.

WHAT IS GAMBLING?
In simple terms, legal gambling is an activity for people aged 18 and over. It is when someone spends money on a game that includes the element of chance in the hope that they will win back more money than they started with. An easy example is a lottery. Players spend money on a lottery ticket and select a series of numbers in the hope that their numbers will be chosen from a spinning ball machine so that they win a jackpot*. However, while gambling has the remote potential for a win, the odds of winning are extremely low and it carries a far greater risk of losing.

There are several different forms of legal gambling for adults in Australia, including other types of lottery-based systems such as scratch tickets, Bingo and Keno*, as well as poker machines* and sports betting.

In more recent years, online gambling has also emerged. Many of these products and sites are based overseas and aren’t regulated* by the Australian government, making them even higher risk, according to Anglicare Tasmania.

But it’s not just the lack of Australian regulation that makes online gambling riskier. Anglicare states that mobile phone use has made it easier for people to gamble. When linked to a credit card, gambling can easily get out of hand, because the money spent doesn’t feel as real as physical cash leaving someone’s wallet as they are forced to hand it over to pay for their bet – or in many cases, their debt.

People also lose track of time while gambling online, just like many do when scrolling on their phones more generally. Casinos – the biggest legal gambling establishments for adults – are often purposefully designed without wall clocks or natural light to induce the same effect.

WHY GAMBLING IS A PROBLEM
According to the Australian Gambling Statistics 41st edition, released by the Queensland Government Statistician’s* Office in 2025, Australians spent more than $32.99 billion on gambling, not including interactive gaming*, in 2024-25.

The odds of winning in most forms of gambling are extremely low. For example, the odds of winning the top jackpot in major lotteries range from 1 in 8.1 million to 1 in 134.5 million, according to Gambling Help Queensland. The odds of winning top prize on a poker machine are about 1 in 7 million at best.

Despite the low odds, gambling has become extremely popular in Australia. In fact, Australians lose the most money on gambling per capita* in the world.

You may be wondering why so many people take such extreme risks, placing their hard-earned money on the line when the odds of winning are so heavily stacked against them.

The answer is that gambling is easily addictive*.

If someone gets a small win, it might spur them on to keep trying for a bigger win. The risk of placing the bet gives them a rush of feel-good hormones called endorphins that makes them want to keep repeating the behaviour.

There’s also a psychological effect that happens when people start losing a lot of money where they think, “Just one more bet and I could make it all back again.” But that very rarely happens.

Gambling often drives people into debt, causes mental health problems, creates family issues and could even lead to unemployment and complete family breakdown if they are spending their time on online gambling sites instead of working.

GAMBLING ADVERTISING
With gambling proving a dangerous and damaging activity for so many Australians, a lot of people have been calling for a total ban on advertising.

According to the Alliance For Gambling Reform, children and young people are being targeted and exposed to gambling despite its being a restricted activity for those aged 18 years and over.

In May this year, CEO Martin Thomas said research conducted by the Alliance showed 600,000 underage kids illegally bet more than $18 million a year.

How are they doing this?

“The evidence shows that underage kids as young as 14 are being targeted through social media to download gambling apps, and betting ads are appearing in children’s games, and increasingly popular online games are including gambling-type functions. Our kids are also exposed to a tsunami of gambling ads on television and through the sports broadcasts,” Mr Thomas said.

In Australia, tobacco and alcohol companies are strictly prohibited from advertising to kids. Sports betting and other gambling companies are also banned from directly advertising to children, however, many kids are still exposed to gambling ads while watching sports broadcasts on TV. And it’s not just the TV ads they see, it’s also the sponsorships with their favourite teams and the betting company logos splashed across uniforms and the stadiums.

GOVERNMENT REFORMS
The federal government has announced gambling reforms that will limit the number of TV gambling ads to a maximum of three per hour between 6am and 8.30pm. Radio broadcasts that promote gambling will also be banned during school drop off and pick up, while an opt-out register will be made available for people who don’t want to be exposed to gambling ads online.

However, many say the reforms don’t go far enough.

News Corp columnist and author of the Barefoot Investor Scott Pape made a direct plea to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a recent column he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, that compared gambling companies to poachers, “except they’re not hunting rhinos … they’re hunting our kids.”

“They’re the betting companies,” he wrote. “They use the thing kids (particularly boys) love – sport – to groom them into gambling. Logos on the jersey. Ads on the TV. And odds in their ears before they’re old enough to shave.”

Pape called on the prime minister to ban betting companies from sport altogether.

“No jerseys. No stadiums. No ads at the footy,” he wrote.

Many politicians have also expressed concern about the reforms, with Independent ACT senator David Pocock and the Greens referring to a report by late Labor MP Peta Murphy that called for a complete ban on gambling advertising.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• jackpot: a large cash prize in a lottery
• Keno: a lottery-like gambling game played in clubs and pubs
• poker machines: flashing, musical machines where players insert money and try to line up rows of icons to win money back
• regulated: governed with rules that are enforced by the Australian government
• Statistician: a math expert who collects and analyses data
• interactive gaming: online gambling
• per capita: average amount per person in the population
• addictive: an activity that you want to do over again that is extremely hard to stop, even if you know it is doing you damage

EXTRA READING
Roblox: new roadblocks for kids
Clubs on fine line for head knocks
One game, two worlds: safety first

QUICK QUIZ
1. Why do people lose more money than they win to gambling?
2. How much money did Australians spend on gambling in 2024-25?
3. What are some of the new restrictions on gambling advertising brought in by the government?
4. How are kids being exposed to the harmful practice of gambling?
5. What does Scott Pape think about the government’s new gambling reforms?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Brainwashing in advertising
The article states that the betting companies are using something that kids love, sport, to lure kids into betting as they grow up seeing and hearing about it.

Work with a partner to brainstorm a list of the things you see and hear while watching sports that involve gambling.

–

–

–

–

–

–

Do you think advertising gambling should be banned? Why or why not?

Time: allow 20 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Compile a list of all the problems associated with gambling and those who become addicted:

–

–

–

–

–

Is the Government doing enough to protect especially young Australians from this?

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Mathematics, Health and Physical Education, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
To sum it up
After reading the article, use your comprehension skills to summarise in a maximum of three sentences what the article is about.

Think about:

• What is the main topic or idea?
• What is an important or interesting fact?
• Who was involved (people or places)?

Use your VCOP skills to re-read your summary to make sure it is clear, specific and well punctuated.