Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The 2026 footy season is upon us. That means that, once again, our screens and our stadiums will be polluted with wall-to-wall gambling advertising. Our children will be exposed to relentless promotion of a harmful product that is driving a serious and urgent public health crisis.

Australians are the biggest per capita gambling losers on the planet. As a nation, we lose $32 billion every year. About one in seven Australian adults experiences gambling related harms every year. That's over three million Australians annually.

These harms extend far beyond financial distress into the realm of physical and mental health.

Gambling results in significant psychosocial challenges, mental health conditions, domestic violence, increased substance use, homelessness, self-harm and, in its most devastating circumstances, Australians taking their own lives. Almost 70 per cent of high-risk gamblers suffer cognitive, behavioural or mental health issues. Sixteen per cent experience suicidal thoughts.

Young people are more likely to struggle with gambling than adults. Eighteen- to 24-year-old gamblers are nearly twice as likely to experience harm from it, and Indigenous Australians experience gambling harm at almost twice the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

The vulnerable are actively targeted by this predatory industry. According to the Public Health Association of Australia, approximately 40 per cent of gambling revenue comes from people who are actively experiencing significant gambling harm.

Those harms come at an enormous cost. Gambling costs my home state of Victoria $14 billion a year in social costs. This includes $3.3 billion a year in emotional and psychological harm, including depression, suicide attempts and suicide fatalities.

The Murphy report into gambling harm was tabled on 28 June 2023. Regrettably, in the almost 1,000 days that have followed, not one of the report's 31 recommendations has been responded to. That includes recommendations addressing gambling harm from a public health perspective, like establishing a national strategy to address online gambling harm or introducing a harm reduction levy on gambling companies to fund research, treatment and rehabilitation. During those 978 days, Australians have lost at least $70 billion to gambling. Many have lost a lot more than just money.

The bill that I'm introducing today charts a path towards addressing gambling harm as a public health issue in this country. Last year this parliament passed laws that established, for the very first time, an Australian centre for disease control. I commended the Albanese government at that time for taking this action. It's my belief that the biggest challenges that we face as a nation, from infectious disease to chronic illnesses, from antimicrobial resistance to the health impacts of climate change, demand a well-designed, coordinated and expert led response.

But the same is true of the health crisis caused by our national addiction to gambling.

This new bill, the Australian Centre for Disease Control Amendment (Gambling as a Public Health Issue) Bill, formally recognises gambling as a public health matter, and it will enable public health experts to produce evidence based reports and data on the harms of gambling, just as they have been empowered to do for other addictive and harmful products.

Recognising gambling as a public health issue treats gambling harm as a community issue, not as an individual fault. It shifts the focus from a personal burden to the need for systemic change—changes like advertising restrictions and community based education. It frames a necessary national response as prevention and early intervention, comprehensive harm reduction, the need to focus on moderating environments that promote access to gambling and the need to facilitate the use of evidence based policies to inform regulatory changes.

As a paediatrician, I'm really conscious of the need to promote and foster the health of all young Australians. Our children are being targeted on social media by betting agencies. They're being exposed to endless betting ads promoted by broadcasters and by our football codes. It's time that we took back control of the mental health of our young people.

We have to deal with the scourge and the harm associated with online gambling advertising, and we have to start by recognising gambling harm as an immediate and severe public health emergency. I cede the remainder of my time to the member for Curtin, and I commend this bill to the House.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

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

I second the motion. I'm pleased to support the member for Kooyong's bill to recognise gambling harm as a public health issue. Let's be honest about what we're up against. In 2024, Australia had about 550,000 high-risk gamblers. Of these, 16 per cent experienced suicidal thoughts; two-thirds faced serious financial hardship, including going without meals; and 19 per cent of people whose partner gambled weekly or more often experienced intimate partner violence. If a pharmaceutical drug caused that level of harm, we would pull it from the shelves. If an industrial chemical produced that collateral damage in Australian homes, it would be banned. This is a public health problem because it affects whole communities, because the harm is predictable and preventable, and because it's driven by an environment designed to maximise addiction.

Gambling companies spend millions to make their products as addictive as possible. This is not a fair fight. The best analogy is tobacco. The tobacco industry pushed the personal responsibility narrative for decades. It suited them to say that it's your choice whether you smoke or not. This was compelling enough to buy them additional decades of profits, but, ultimately, we saw through it. Nicotine is addictive. Personal responsibility doesn't work when you're pushing an addictive substance.

Gambling is the same. Gambling addiction is recognised in the DSM-5 as a health condition. Big gambling companies use sophisticated behavioural design, relentless advertising and data profiling to keep people betting and to bring kids into the funnel—and it shows. Per-household gambling losses in Australia are now higher than per-household electricity bills, but we tell people experiencing gambling addiction that it's up to them to self-exclude via BetStop or to gamble responsibly.

You would expect the Prime Minister to back the underdog—the Australian people—in this unfair fight. Instead, time and again, he chooses to fight for the gambling companies. Treating gambling harm as a public health issue was at the heart of the parliamentary inquiry recommendations I worked on alongside the late Peta Murphy. It's now been nearly 1,000 days since we tabled that report and there is still no response from this government.

We know what the Prime Minister will say to the member for Kooyong's bill. It's the same response he's used for nearly 1,000 days, as he stands alone within his party, alone within the parliament, fighting bravely and heroically for the interests of the big gambling companies. He will say, 'We have done more than any other government on gambling reform.' But the actions taken by this government came out of a previous coalition review. The Murphy review was undertaken assuming they would be implemented. They do not fix the problem.

He will say, 'Illegal offshore platforms are the problem.' This is a talking point from the gambling industry: 'Look over there.' The evidence shows that the domestic issue is bigger and, despite what the gambling companies say, banning gambling ads didn't push people to offshore sites in Spain or Norway.

He will say, 'You're trying to ban gambling.' No-one is trying to ban gambling. Adults will still be able to gamble, but people experiencing harm from gambling will not have ads shoved down their throats and will not be told it's their own problem. He will say, 'Free-to-air TV and community sport will collapse without gambling ads.' Well, TV and radio make about $250 million a year from gambling ads—roughly four per cent of their total ad revenue. The AFL and NRL make about $100 million combined, so this is a $340 million problem. Australians lose $87 million a day gambling. Four days of losses would replace a year of media and sport revenue. A levy of half a per cent on bets would replace that funding four times over. This is solvable.

It's time to recognise gambling harm as a public health issue and legislate accordingly. I commend this bill to the House.

Marion Scrymgour (Lingiari, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for this debate has now expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.