NEWSLETTERS
2025
Welcome to June
Newsletter

Martin Thomas
CEO
I love my footy. Being born in Victoria I was bred on AFL but having lived in both Queensland and NSW, I have bought into the passion of rugby league and especially State of Origin.
Game 2 of State of Origin will be next week.
But tempering my enthusiasm for the game is the fact that State of Origin nights see a 40 per cent increase in domestic abuse and about a 70 per cent increase in non-domestic assaults.
Experts blame a toxic mix of gambling and alcohol.
It is a tragedy that our two big football codes have entrenched themselves with betting companies.
It is fuel to a fire that is leading to more than one million betting ads assailing our screens every year.
Not only is it fuelling violence it is ensnaring a whole generation of young people.
Research shows that more than 600,000 teenagers, aged between 12-17, gamble $18 million every year.
When they reach 18 to 25 years of age, one in five will have a betting problem.
Behind the figures are incalculable human suffering.
I recall a parliamentary inquiry where a family read a suicide note from their son. He believed the ads and the tactics of the bookmakers were so persuasive that he would never be able to stop gambling and he believed his family was better off without him.
The family were completely broken.
And it is the power of the AFL and the NRL and the political influence of the gambling industry that now stands in the way of gambling reform in this country.
We need to make our voices heard.
More than 75% of Australians want gambling ads banned.
We need this newly elected government to hear this message loud and clear. We need the football codes to hear out disgust with their entanglement with betting.
A new Federal Parliament brings new opportunity for change. Please sign our petition, and if you are able, please give to our End of Financial Year Appeal.
Together we can make sure they hear our voice. That they understand that we have had enough of the predatory gambling industry which is grooming our kids.
You can catch up on all the latest news stories here.

Welcome to our JANUARY NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2025
This year marks 10 years since the creation of the Alliance for Gambling Reform.
Back then a group of concerned individuals and organisations acted because of concerns about the harm poker machines were doing in Victoria.
Today, the Alliance has a focus on federal, state and territory gambling policy covering online gambling, poker machines and the operations of casinos across Australia.

Welcome to our JULY NEWSLETTER
JULY 2024
The Olympics are here again and as a nation we celebrate the efforts of our athletes as well as those from across the globe.
Unfortunately the Olympics are also a reminder that whenever we watch sport, we are forced to suffer virtually endless gambling adverts.
While there are some modest restrictions of gambling advertising during live play, there are still enough loopholes to allow a tsunami of ads across our screens. Indeed, more than one million gambling ads have been played on Australian free-to-air television and radio in just a one year period.

Welcome to our APRIL 2025 NEWSLETTER
APRIL 2025
Christine has powerful memories of what it was like growing up in a household where her mother had a serious gambling problem.
“As mum descended further into debt, electricity became a luxury and food could be pretty scarce unless she won some money and then we’d go grocery shopping. Things kept disappearing from our home, including the washing machine so then I’d be hand washing my one school uniform by hand every day,” Christine says.

Welcome to our OCTOBER 2024 NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 2024
Ed's lowest point came when he found himself stealing from clients of the business he ran. He was sinking deeper into the cycle of gambling harm in a desperate attempt to recover lost money. This harm amounted to a total loss of nearly $1.8 million and ended in his imprisonment.

Welcome to our JUNE NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2024
We continue to witness changes across Australia that seek to limit gambling harm in our community.
These changes, such as the Federal Government move this month to ban the use of credit cards for gambling, are a tribute to you raising your voice against gambling harm and also your support of the Alliance for Gamlbing Reform.
Yet the actions by governments across the nation are still far short of where it must be. They also fail to reflect the white-hot anger that people across our communities have towards the bombardment of gambling adverts across our screens.

Welcome to our MARCH 2025 NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2025
The NSW Government’s decision to ban gambling advertising across the state’s public transport network is a small but crucial step in the right direction and represents validation from a senior political leader for gambling advertising reform in this country.

This is why we need urgent gambling reform
SEPTEMBER 2024
As we continue to fight for significant gambling reform, including a full ban on all gambling advertising and inducements, we have decided to take a very different approach to our monthly newsletter this time around.
Instead of giving you a summary of all that has happened, I’m encouraging you to listen to Kate’s interview. It is a powerful and sobering reminder of all we are fighting for.