The [upcoming vote](http://ballotpedia.org/Massachusetts_Casino_Repeal_Initiative,Question_3(2014) on whether to scrap plans to allow casino resorts in Massachusetts fits into a broader pattern of individuals…
Recent changes to gambling regulation in Queensland will allow for a rapid expansion of the industry. AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Queensland government has recently implemented changes to poker machine regulation under the banner of “red tape reduction”. Some of these are relatively minor at first glance; others have more obvious…
The introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines, as has been proposed in Victoria, might not end problem gambling, but it would certainly reduce its harmful effects. AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The Greens have tabled a bill in the Victorian parliament that would introduce a maximum bet of $1 per spin for the state’s 30,000 poker machines. While the bill is almost certain to fail, the introduction…
Crown Limited, the casino empire majority owned by James Packer, earned $490 million in profit in the last financial year – no wonder he’s laughing. AAP/Dean Lewins
The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Francis Markham and Martin Young explain why the deregulation of gambling in…
Very little is known about the impact of gambling in regional and remote places in Australia, such as Alice Springs. Bruce Doran
Although Australia is often portrayed as a nation of gamblers, we still know relatively little about the extent to which gambling affects our society. One blind spot in our knowledge is the impact of gambling…
It’s hardly surprising the Coalition would baulk at costly regulation in the gambling industry. Flickr/Marionzetta
The future of Australia’s pokies pre-commitment scheme – which enables players to set a limit on how much they’re prepared to lose – is in doubt, with Labor likely to support the Coalition’s move to repeal…
Children are vulnerable consumers and aren’t capable of making rational, informed choices. AAP/Dan Peled
Have your children watched a footy match recently? Well, if they watched AFL on TV they also consumed about 50.5 separate episodes of sports betting marketing, from TV and stadium ads, to footy jumpers…
Gambling tax reform should be a part of a gambling harm minimisation tax package.
Gambling provides Australian state governments with an average of 7.3% of their own taxes, about $5147 million, according to ABS data for 2010-11. Victoria (10.8%) and New South Wales (8.6%) earn above…
Wilkie: The poker machine reforms are the “best we can get in the current circumstances”. AAP/Lukas Coch
Justin Norrie, The Conversation
Watered-down poker machine reforms designed to protect problem gamblers will go ahead after Tasmanian Independent MP Andrew Wilkie reluctantly gave his support to the Government legislation. Mr Wilkie…
Apart from minor changes, action has been delayed until 2017. OctopusHat
Tension around pokies reform came to a head on Saturday when Prime Minister Julia Gillard broke her agreement with independent Tasmanian MHR Andrew Wilkie to implement timely reforms to address problem…
Andrew Wilkie must decide whether to walk away from the Gillard government. AAP Image/Alan Porritt
As speculation about Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s commitment to gambling reform grows, Tasmanian independent Andrew Wilkie is weighing up the pros and cons of a compromise deal with the government. Wilkie…
The Coalition’s gambling paper proposes voluntary pre-commitment but misrepresents the evidence.
The Coalition last week released its Policy Discussion Paper on Gambling Reform, rejecting the government’s mandatory pre-commitment scheme on poker machines as a measure to reduce problem gambling. Topping…
AFL and NRL clubs say they face financial losses if punters like this are forced into a pre-commitment scheme. AAP
The Federal Government’s plan to introduce pre-commitment systems on pokie machines in order to reduce problem gambling has become a major political headache. A campaign by Clubs Australia targeting Labor…
Less than half the respondents polled by ANU thought that gambling activities are advertised responsibly. Flickr/Jeff Kubina
Nearly three quarters of those surveyed in a new poll support gambling pre-commitment rules, a policy the Australian government plans to introduce by 2014 but which has attracted the ire of the clubs industry…
Taxpayers were shortchanged $3billion in Victoria’s ill-fated auction of licences last year. AAP
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – How do pokies cause harm? People addicted to the pokies lose one hell of a lot of money. Because they lose one hell of a lot of money they do not eat well, get into debt, lose their…
Betting can be fun, but it’s not worth losing your shirt over. William West/AFP
GAMBLING IN AUSTRALIA – The idea that Australians love to gamble is so firmly established that we rarely pause to question it. This is true whether we picture Chinese and British “diggers” passing time…
Gambling harms extend beyond those with the gambling problem, the signatories to the letter argue. AAP
A number of public health experts have written a letter to the Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition and Parlimentarians in support of the mandatory pre-commitment system for poker machines. The signatories…
