Please note – this article talks about gambling and harm caused by gambling, including suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, please make sure you reach out for help from resources such as Lifeline on 13 11 14, or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. For emergencies, always call Triple Zero (000).
Our members would be overly familiar with the extremely rushed and ill-considered recent firearm legislation and regulatory changes that have occurred across Australia, with the NSW Government announcing on the weekend they will launch their scheme on 2 November this year.
The politicians leading these changes repeatedly stated that they were to make our nation and our states/territories safer.
Chris Minns said the “urgent” measures were needed and that “we couldn’t wait”, and that his government was “not done with reform and we’re not going to be done until we’ve done everything possible to keep the people of this state safe”.
Anthony Albanese said, “This national buyback scheme will help get guns off our streets, and help keep all Australians safe”, and when the efficacy of the buyback was questioned by the Queensland Premier, he said that position was not “in the interests of Queenslanders or the nation”.
Emergency sitting days were called in national and state parliaments, bold statements were made about protecting Australians and laws were hurriedly changed.
So, let’s look at the government’s current response to the harm caused to Australians by online gambling.
In 2022, the Federal Government commenced a formal parliamentary inquiry process into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.
For a month the inquiry took submissions from 160 individuals and organisations that lead to 31 recommendations to reduce harm caused by online gambling across the whole Australian population.
This inquiry firmly concluded that ‘You win some, you lose more’ sums up the evidence they received, and if the status quo of online gambling regulation, including advertising, was to continue Australians would continue to lose critical parts of their life including their health, money, and relationships.
The following are some key details from the inquiry report that was handed down in June 2023:
- Per capita, Australians spend the most in the world on legal forms of gambling, losing $25 billion every year – we are also first in online gambling.
- The participation of Australians in online gambling increased from 12.6 per cent in 2010-11 to 44 per cent of adults in 2022.
- Around two-thirds of all participants who gambled in the past 12 months on sports, racing and electronic gaming machines classified as being at risk of harm.
- Australians are concerned about the harms of gambling, with 77 per cent agreeing there are too many opportunities to gamble, and 59 per cent agreeing that gambling should be discouraged.
- Few Australians (17 per cent) believed that, on balance, gambling is good for society.
- Gambling in Australia is a major public health issue and can cause a range of serious harms including financial, legal, family/relationships, health, psychological harms and homelessness. It can also lead to issues with drugs and alcohol.
- Too many Australians are taking their own lives because of their gambling, with:
- gambling associated with an approximately four times higher risk of suicide.
- Financial Counselling Australia reported that 80 per cent of specialist gambling financial counsellors had clients talk about suicide, and 48 per cent had clients who had attempted to take their lives.
Considering the urgent action undertaken related to firearms, you’d think this immense amount of broad, ongoing and increasing community harm would lead to a dramatic and urgent response. Wouldn’t you?
Now in 2026, over three years since the gambling report was published, the Australian Government’s response to the online gambling inquiry has been widely criticised as a weak and delayed answer to a serious public health problem.
The response has been characterised as too slow, too limited, and too protective of commercial interests.
Although the inquiry recommended a comprehensive reform agenda, including a phased ban on gambling advertising and stronger national regulation, the government’s response has been widely seen as cautious, partial, and overly shaped by industry and media interests.
The delay was a major source of criticism. The government took almost three years to respond with the response appearing to be politically managed rather than prioritised, despite the inquiry identifying urgent harms linked to online gambling.
The strongest criticism was that the government refused to adopt the inquiry’s central recommendation: a full, phased ban on online gambling advertising. Instead, it proposed narrower restrictions that critics argue will do little to stop gambling promotion shifting across platforms, broadcasts, and sporting environments.
The response was further criticised for failing to commit to stronger national oversight, leaving concerns that fragmented regulation and weak enforcement would continue to favour gambling companies over people experiencing harm.
In comparison to the changes and the speed of change the firearms community has been subject to, it is fair to say there is clear lack of consistency with how the government manages community harm.
This is far from acceptable, and it raises questions about how committed the government really are to protecting Australians.
We’ve said this before, we’ll say it again, and we’ll keep saying it – we want our members and all lawful firearm owners to be treated with the same respect, due process and policy consideration that others are. Anything else is unjust.