Tim Costello, Chief Advocate, Alliance for Gambling Reform
14 Aug 2025
The Victorian Coroner's hearing into the tragic suicide of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson is set to shine a spotlight on the activities of bookmaker Sportsbet.
Kyle took his life shortly after losing two bets worth more than $6000.
The hearing is set to probe the actions of SportsBet and also the banks from which Kyle drew out large sums of money for betting.
The figures show sports betting is exploding among young men - growing at up to 40 per cent annually.
And troublingly, figures show that up to 600,000 underage teenagers (12-17 years old) are gambling $18 million annually.
Sports and Communications Minister, Anika Wells, when adding YouTube to the social media ban for under 16 year olds, said she was intent on protecting people not platforms.
She is the minister now in charge of responding to the Murphy parliamentary inquiry recommendations to ban gambling ads and gambling incentives.
But two years on from Murphy's recommendations, we still have no government response to Murphy's 31 recommendations or any reform to protect children being groomed by gambling ads.
Recently, I spoke to a group of leaders aged 18-20 at a university in Melbourne. Gambling came up in my speech.
After the event, a young man dressed in a suit told me that he had been at an ex-school friend's funeral that day.
His friend took his life after losing all his savings in sports betting.
They had started gambling at school and he said all his friends, all underage, were gambling.
For boys not to be gambling and talking about their wins at school was so uncool - such is the capture of gambling and sport. And so, friendship for young men and being cool now revolved around gambling.
At the same event, another student spoke to me about his wrestling with gambling.
I asked this 20-year-old to explain why he had got into this. Again, he said all my school friends are gambling.
You get an account TAB account by using an older sibling's ID - such as a driver's license or passport and then you are away. Then you deposit money in an account.
Curiously, you're immediately trapped as you cannot withdraw the money without physically presenting at a TAB to withdraw it, which you never risk.
If you do not bet for a day, then a $50 free bonus lands in your account, so you try a number of apps and get the bonuses, and soon you have lost all track of your real losses.
These kids bet on everything and everywhere. Races, Lithuanian basketball, that they watch in the early hours of the morning.
His friend lost $2000 betting on a Lithuanian basketball game. I said, "how do you watch Lithuanian basketball", and he said, "the betting companies drop the game on your tablet". So, it is a "gift" of the bookmakers and as you watch bonuses and incentives pop up.
Gambling companies effectively own the game and anyone who has watched AFL or NRL would say it is the same of our sports.
If you are losing, no one from the company checks. If you are winning, the sports betting trader has to manually check your winnings before paying out. If you are losing, you get bonus incentives.
I am worried that the bookies who now effectively own the AFL and NRL will support the government's social media ban and say now we can advertise and continue our booming business - both ads and incentives. And it will be worse as age verification for under 16s will not be a license or passport but a much lower bar.
Yes, we need to put people before platforms and that includes the AFL and NRL apps where every game has the odds every week and grooms our children.
We cannot rely on bookmakers to reduce gambling harm.
We should expect the sporting codes - including the AFL and the NRL - to do much more to reduce the promotion of advertising that now envelops the game. But given the fat profit these codes make on the backs of their supporters such action is unlikely.
So, it turns to the federal government to act to protect our kids and also the scores of young men and women who are being remorselessly targeted by a predatory industry.
Every day we delay is not only leading to incredible financial hardship, it is leading to social devastation. It is destroying lives.
Gambling is not just a gaming issue, it is a public health crisis that is leading to extraordinary suffering and social harm.
We can't wait any longer for a considered and significant response to the Murphy parliamentary inquiry by this government.
Support is available for those who may be distressed. PhoneLifeline 13 11 14; beyondblue 1300 224 636; National Gambling Helpline 1800 858 858.