Kate Chaney (Curtin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is a question for the Prime Minister. Today, parliamentarians from across the House again heard personal stories about gambling harm, including from a Western Australian whose brother died by suicide after struggling with gambling addiction. The government hasn't even provided a response to the Murphy inquiry into online gambling, let alone implemented any of our key recommendations. Is the delay due to successful lobbying by powerful interests, and what do you say to people experiencing gambling harm who are still being bombarded by gambling ads?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Curtin for her question. With respect, I say that it is not correct to say that we haven't responded. We have done more as a government than any government in Australia's history since Federation. It's as simple as that. BetStop, the self-exclusion register, has been in operation for two years as of last week and is making an enormous difference. We have launched the National Self-Exclusion Register. At the end of July, it had recorded 46,369 total registrations, including 30,750 active exclusions. Thirty-nine per cent of current registrants have chosen a lifetime ban. The problem that we see with gambling isn't someone having a punt on a Saturday at the pub. It is ongoing addiction to gambling, which can be incredibly harmful.

We have banned the use of credit cards for online wagering. We've established mandatory customer ID pre-verification for online wagering. We've implemented monthly win-loss statements. We've strengthened classification of video games that contain gambling-like content. We'll continue to work on these areas, as we've said. We want to break the connection between wagering and sport. A lot of that has been done voluntarily, as well, by the sporting organisations, who understand the damage that can be caused.

Gambling is legal in Australia. We respect people's right to have a punt, but we also have a responsibility to make sure that the industry acts responsibly, and that's what we're doing.