ANNUAL REPORT
2022/2023
We are happy to share with you our 2022/23 Annual Report.
It’s been a big year, with lots of big stories and lots of momentum to be excited about.
It was wonderful to have this opportunity to review just how much the discussion has shifted in one year.
Celebrate the wins we’ve achieved together and get inspired to keep pushing for an Australia free from gambling harm.
Thanks to all our supporters, regardless of how you support us, we couldn’t do it without you.
Latest Media Release
Vic Govt must act on gambling harm blueprint - State’s $7.5b gambling losses are devastating communities
28 November 2023
The Victorian Government must immediately adopt all 61 recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry which has detailed a comprehensive blueprint to dramatically cut gambling harm across the State.
The Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) report, published today, details a raft of recommendations including the consideration of setting gambling loss limits, reducing the number of poker machines in the State and imposing greater restrictions on gambling advertising.
It highlighted that Victorians lost $7.5b in 2022-23 to gambling, rebounding strongly since losses fell due to the pandemic lockdown of recent years.
Read the media release here.
On 28 November 2023. Alliance Chief Advocate Tim Costello and CEO Carol Bennett joined Zoe Daniel, Kate Chaney MP and mum Cecelia Aull and her daughter Annabelle at a press conference at Australian Parliament House in Canberra calling on the federal government to ban gambling ads. Will the Anthony Albanese government have the resolve to stare down the gambling industry and other vested interests to act in the best interest of the public?’
$8b in NSW poker machine losses demands action - Government’s sham cashless card trial still yet to start
20 October 2023
NSW Premier Chris Minns should immediately scrap his needless trial of a gambling cashless card and introduce the card now, in the wake of new figures showing the State suffered a record $8 billion in poker machine losses last financial year.
The record loss figures affirms past evidence that spikes in gambling losses occur during times of financial stress and hardship.
The Alliance for Gambling Reform’s Chief Advocate, Rev. Tim Costello, said Premier Minns could assist families hard hit by the cost-of-living crisis by immediately introducing a mandatory, pre-commitment gambling card.
Superfunds investing billions in gambling stocks
Disclosure regime ‘patently inadequate’ to hold funds accountable
One major Australian industry super fund - which boasts one million members and which promotes itself as a responsible investor - holds more than $351 million in gambling-relating equities, according to new analysis by the Alliance for Gambling Reform.
You can read the Media Release here
Read our position paper
Read the breaking news article from the Sydney Morning Herald
Find our more about HESTA's investments
Alex is a consumer, who is outraged at HESTA's investments. (Image credit to Joe Armao, The Age/ Sydney Morning Herald)
October 2023 Newsletter
Gambling Harm Awareness Week in October provided a good opportunity to celebrate progress being made around the country on gambling reform, while pushing for further reform addressing the escalating national losses and other gambling harms.
And with poker machine losses at $14.5b across five states - 13.7% higher than the last full pre-covid year 2018-19, Australians are coming in first as the world biggest gambling losers by a mile. It all seems at odds with the current cost of living crisis, but in another way makes sense that when people are feeling pressure they might be seeking out a quick win or a way to escape the daily reality. Either way, as the tagline says ‘chances are you are about to lose’ and these losses translate into significant and growing harm across our communities. READ MORE
The Alliance as CEO Carol Bennett and Chief Advocate Tim Costello met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss gambling harm in Australia.
Excellent meetings on Monday 8 August between Alliance CEO Carol Bennett and Chief Advocate Tim Costello and Rebekha Sharkie MP, Kate Chaney MP, Zoe Daniel, and David Pocock at Parliament House, Canberra. Great to see such support for gambling reform from our independents!
You win some, you lose more – online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.
The Alliance’s response to the recommendations
The Alliance welcomes the long-awaited work of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs Report of the inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.
Read report here: You win some, you lose more – Parliament of Australia (aph.gov.au)
Read our Inquiry into online gambling and its impact on those experiencing gambling harm submission
The Alliance for Gambling Reform (The Alliance) has been concerned about the impact of gambling-like features in both computer games and phone apps for many years. It is not only one element of Australian children being groomed to become gamblers, but it is also being impacted by harm very similar and on-par with gambling harm due to loot boxes. There are a number of useful studies as well as international case studies that provide the Australian Government with the evidence it needs to go further when it comes to classifications of video games, and the Alliance would strongly urge the government to ensure this legislation includes phone apps. READ MORE
TAKE ACTION
END GAMBLING HARM AFTER DARK
The risk of gambling harm from poker machines increases after dark. We know that the high levels of harm being experienced by people in the late hours of the night and early hours of the morning are avoidable.
Click here to learn more and take action
CALLING FOR AN END TO GAMBLING ADS
It's time to kick gambling ads out of sport!
Sign the petition and find out more about how you can stand with us to end gambling ads here!
INQUIRY INTO ONLINE GAMBLING AND ITS IMPACTS ON THOSE EXPERIENCING GAMBLING HARM
nline gambling participation has increased exponentially over the past few years and the true extent of its impacts and reach are still being fully understood. However, the evidence available shows significant gambling harm being experienced online by young people and vulnerable community groups with a significant increase in online wagering companies profits over the past few years. Click here to learn more and take action
We're an independent, not-for-profit and proudly rely on our supporters, not the gambling industry!
Make a tax-deductible donation today.
Rev Tim Costello
Chief Advocate
Some of our largest companies and investment funds have a vested interest in poker machine gambling. Governments want few restraints given that $5.5 billion flow into their coffers every year. This is a difficult problem to unlock. Many Australians have a stake in the future of the gambling industry through their superannuation, equity investments and participation in clubs and pubs.
Over the past twenty years this is an industry that has been unleashed on Australia, without reasonable regulatory controls or even a genuine community conversation.
Latest News
‘Playing us for years’: how pokies profits have funded tax-deductible spending within Australian clubs
The Guardian
26 Nov 2023
It is part of a scheme that the anti-gambling campaigner Tim Costello says is Australia’s most shameless rort.
“When I learned what was going on, I felt really, really angry,” Mitchell says. “Pokies, to put it bluntly, have got people committing suicide. It’s led to divorces. It’s got people on welfare and food bank parcels. And yet, it’s able to present itself as a community benefit. From my point of view, it was totally misleading.”
You want money laundering with that? Minns’ pokie policy jumps the shark
Mandarin Premium
18 Oct 2023
There are times in public policy when even the most practised suppression of the ethical gag reflex is tested to its outer limits. On Tuesday, the ethical stench surrounding the NSW Minns government’s position on poker machines had many reaching for the Buscopan Forte to cope with the nausea.
“Gambling costs aren’t just measured in dollars; there are also family impacts including time away from loved ones, impacts on physical and mental health, and community impacts,” lamented David Harris, the NSW minister for gaming and racing.
'Captured' Minns Government not serious about pokies reform, says anti-gambling advocate
RegionRiverina
1 Nov 2023
Reverend Costello said these figures were “extraordinary” given the small population in the region and criticised the State Government for what he said was a lack of action on the issue.
“[Premier] Minns doesn’t want to reform pokies … Labor has five pokies venues, five in NSW, it’s too lucrative for them. They’re putting the party’s interest way before people’s interest.
How do we prevent young people from gambling?
ABC Listen
11 Oct 2023
A Conversation Hour not to be missed - "How do we stop young people gambling?' Listen to Alliance CEO Carol Bennett alongside a number of brilliant guest speakers and community members calling in to highlight the huge impact gambling online is having on young people.