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Premier-elect Chris Minns and his team are to be commended for leading the ALP to victory after 12 years in opposition. We wish him and his team well as the new government of NSW.

Laws to prohibit gambling on credit are a ‘Swiss cheese’ of loop holes and exceptions that are allowing too many Australians to drown in debt, offered at very high interest rates.

The problem is particularly acute among young people who are ruthlessly targeted by online gambling companies and who are more likely to revert to credit to continue to gamble. Evidence shows young men (18-24) are the most prolific online gamblers and online is the fastest growing form of gambling in Australia.

Gambling reform advocates have condemned the decision to hold a Victorian Government-sponsored health jobs fair at Crown Casino, warning it highlights how blinkered our political leaders are to the massive health impact caused by gambling.

Banning political donations from the gambling industry is not enough to close loopholes that allow gambling executives ‘unfair’ and ‘privileged’ access to ministers who regulate the sector, according to the Alliance for Gambling Reform.

Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), which the gambling industry is heralding as a key harm minimisation tool, has been used internationally to actually increase losses and boost time spent on poker machines.

Facebook and Instagram are bombarding young people with targeted ads for alcohol, gambling and unhealthy food, new data shows, prompting calls for reform to protect young people from harmful digital marketing.

Alcohol and gambling companies and their lobby groups donated $2.165 million to Australia’s major political parties in 2021-22 representing a 40 per cent increase on the previous year, an analysis of disclosure returns published today by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) shows.

Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) CEO Caterina Giorgi and Alliance for Gambling Reform (AGR) CEO Carol Bennett jointly called for political donations by alcohol and gambling companies to be banned to ensure that community views are prioritised in policy discussions about proposed reforms that would affect them.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has called on the Prime Minister to take immediate action against Communications Minister, Michelle Rowland, in the wake of evidence that Sportsbet donated almost $19,000 to her on the eve of the last election.

The Alliance’s Chief Advocate, Tim Costello, said the public could no longer have faith that Rowland can effectively carry out her responsibilities as a key decision-maker on policies affecting Sportsbet as the minister who oversees the Interactive Gambling Act and the Australian Communications and Media Authority.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has applauded the poker machine reforms outlined by Premier Perrottet, arguing they represent a watershed moment in harm minimisation.

“These reforms unveiled by Premier Perrottet today are the most significant and wide-ranging poker machine reforms that I have seen in more than 30 years of campaigning to limit gambling harm in communities across Australia, the Chief Advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, said.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has released a definitive position paper on the best model for a cashless gambling card, warning NSW now has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to get poker machine reform right.

The not-for-profit agency at the centre of a “David vs Goliath” battle for poker machine reform in NSW has criticised as ‘obscene’ reports the gambling industry has amassed a $10 million fighting fund to stop changes to reduce gambling harm and to stop billions of dollars from the proceeds of crime being fed into poker machines across NSW.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform, the leading advocate for gambling reform, has also condemned revelations that the gambling and alcohol lobby boosted its political donations by 40% last year to give $2.1.m to political parties – in order to buy influence and stall real gambling reform.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has condemned the campaign of dirty tricks, misinformation and bullying that has been launched in a desperate bid to stave off real reform of poker machines across NSW. The proposed reforms put forward by the NSW Crime Commission and various inquiries into the gambling industry promise to thwart money laundering and other crimes and significantly reduce gambling harm across our communities.

More than 430,000 Australian children are likely to be gambling with almost 40,000 categorised as risky gamblers and 14,400 categorised as problem gamblers, the CEO of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Carol Bennett, says.

And the industry’s own figures show that Australians bet online 20% more than any other nation on the planet and the size of our online gambling market ranks third in the world (in actual dollars, not on a per capita basis).

The nation’s leading gambling reform advocacy group, the Alliance for Gambling Reform, has launched a Giving Tuesday appeal for funding of its work to reduce gambling harm.

The Alliance is in a David vs Goliath battle against powerful gambling interests such as Clubs NSW to limit the damage being done in communities right across Australia. The current push by the Alliance for cashless gambling across Australia follows the NSW Crime Commission findings that billions of dollars from the proceeds of crime and money laundering were being poured into the State’s poker machines.

The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) has today
announced Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) has been found to be
non-compliant at 80% of its 77 Victorian venues that offer gambling. ALH has not
been adhering to requirements aimed to reduce gambling harm.
Rev. Tim Costello said the findings are appalling and the maximum fine available, a
dismal $1.35 million, is a drop in the ocean for ALH who operate over 12,000 poker
machines across the country.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has called for a comprehensive national approach to combat gambling harm in Australia with losses at world-record levels, devastating families and communities and facilitating organised crime, fraud and money laundering.

In its submission to the Federal online gambling inquiry, the Alliance for Gambling Reform said the lack of effective regulation of gambling promotions, inducements, advertising and sponsorships has enabled Australian culture to be undermined by an industry encouraging and profiting from harmful gambling.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform welcomes the maximum fine for Crown’s unethical
treatment of people at risk of, or experiencing gambling harm, following findings from the Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne.

The findings show that Crown breached its obligations a staggering 4.8 million times over 12
years. Many of these obligations were around ensuring people are not using the poker machines for long periods of time (over 18 hours).

The alarming findings of the NSW Crime Commission underscore the critical need for the NSW Government to urgently introduce a cashless gambling card across all its pubs, clubs and casinos the chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello, says.

Mandatory closing hours for poker machine venues – aimed at minimising gambling harm – are being circumvented with big operators exploiting a loophole to stagger closing times across multiple venues to ensure gambling continues 24 hours a day, a new policy paper has revealed.

Poker machine losses in the ACT for those suffering gambling harm could be reduced up to 10-fold if the territory introduced maximum $1 bets to replace the current maximum bet which is among the highest in Australia.

Canberrans lose more than $143m a year on poker machines according to the latest available data (2021) and the evidence shows that the current $10 maximum bet per spin on poker machines dramatically increases gambling harm.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has welcomed the recommendations from the Gotterson review that uncovered appalling failures at Star Casinos in Queensland.

The Alliance’s chief advocate, Tim Costello, said it was significant that 8 out of the 12 recommendations focused on harm minimisation recommendations. He also said the move to increase to $100m the penalty a regulator could impose on a Qld casino operator had rightly been brought into line with Victoria and NSW.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform welcomes the announcement today by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs announcing an inquiry into online gambling and its impacts.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform has praised the Tasmanian Government’s move to introduce
a mandatory cashless card for all poker machines, hailing it as a significant move to reduce
harm and to combat money laundering.

The Australian public can have no confidence in State Governments properly regulating
casinos, a fact highlighted by the latest inquiry which has found the Star Entertainment
Group unfit to hold its Sydney Casino licence.

Australians lost more than $11.4 billion to poker machines in pubs and clubs across five states last year, according to the first comprehensive, national analysis of available loss figures which cements Australia as the world’s biggest losers to poker machines per person.

Alarming potential to breach the privacy of people who are vulnerable.

Pubs, bars and casinos are using facial recognition technology (FRT) to monitor customers and
exclude those with addictions – despite warnings from human rights experts that these technologies violate privacy laws.

Queenslanders are losing big on poker machines, losing more than $250m a month, which represents a jump of up to 33% on losses compared to 12 months ago, the chief advocate for the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Rev. Tim Costello, said.

Soldiers experience higher rates of gambling addictions and suicide; both are exacerbated by pokies in RSL Clubs

More than $66 billion has been lost through poker machines in Victoria since their introduction 30 years ago today.

More than $66 billion has been lost through poker machines in Victoria since their introduction 30 years ago today.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform released their analysis of the staggering losses today, on the 30th anniversary since the first poker machines were introduced on 17 July 1992 at the Dorset Gardens Hotel in Croydon.

After resisting genuine reform for decades, the latest move by ClubsNSW to allow family members to ban people who have suffered gambling harm, is a cynical move designed to avoid real reform, the Alliance for Gambling Reform’s chief advocate, Tim Costello, said.

After resisting genuine reform for decades, the latest move by ClubsNSW to allow family members to ban people who have suffered gambling harm, is a cynical move designed to avoid real reform, the Alliance for Gambling Reform’s chief advocate, Tim Costello, said.

Major concerns over lack of transparency and accountability

The NSW Government must move urgently to increase the pitiful maximum $1 million fine the regulator can fine casino operators in the wake of the ‘bitterly disappointing’ decision by the regulator to give Crown approval to open its gaming operations.

Major concerns over lack of transparency and accountability

The decision to hand the foreign-owned Blackstone Group the license to operate Crown Casino means there will be less transparency and greater risk of gambling harm to the community.

The record $80m fine imposed on Crown Casino shines a spotlight on the pitiful penalties available to regulators in response to evidence of money laundering, organised crime, fraud and foreign interference at Star Casino.

The record $80m fine imposed on Crown Casino was absolutely appropriate and should be followed by other sanctions in response to the appalling revelations that emerged out of the Royal Commission.

The groundswell for greater political integrity in Australian politics must as a priority tackle our rotten system of political donations, according to the chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello.

The failure of the major political parties to campaign on gambling reform, such as restricting sports gambling advertising to protect children, is appalling, according to the chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello.

Today the Alliance is calling for significant harm reduction measures to be implemented after a record $257.3m was lost to poker machines in Victoria in just one month.