Extract from ABC News
For Mark Kempster, it all came to a head on AFL Grand Final day in 2020.
"I went to the pub and lost a couple of thousands of dollars gambling, and I was so angry and upset I decided to drink my sorrows away," he says.
"I passed out at a friend's house and the next day when I got home, my partner Maddy used her intuition and checked my bank accounts, and the truth came out."
Key points:
- Former gambling addicts say governments are failing to protect the community from harmful betting apps
- A parliamentary inquiry is investigating whether the online gambling industry should be reined in
- The latest data shows Australia has the highest online betting rates in the world, as well as the biggest gambling losses overall
The truth was that Mark was in the grips of a seven-year addiction to online gambling.
He bet obsessively on sports matches and horseracing on his mobile phone, in a secret habit that cost his family more than $100,000.
"It overtook my life and I became a shell of the person I was before," Mark reflects.
"I was angry and insecure because of the amount of money I was gambling – it was just so easy to lose huge amounts of money within just a couple of minutes."
Ironically, Mark was working for an online betting company for some of that period. By the time his compulsive gambling was discovered, he had accrued significant debts and alienated friends and relatives with his secretive behaviour.
Now 34, Mark has been able to rebuild his life by going cold turkey on gambling for almost two years.
It has not been easy, given the visibility of gambling ads and continuing contact from betting companies trying to lure him back.
He credits the unwavering support of Maddy and his friends and family.
"As far as our relationship goes, it nearly broke Mark and me," Maddy says.
"[Gambling addiction] has a massive, massive impact, and we're certainly not the only ones experiencing it — it's tearing families apart."
Mark Kempster is one of several former gambling addicts who have made impassioned appeals to a parliamentary inquiry investigating the impact of online gambling on Australian communities, and whether enough is being done to protect people from a potentially damaging product.
His three-page submission drips with disdain for an industry he believes is profiting from getting young people hooked on a harmful habit.
"Gambling is a predatory industry, and they prey on and profit from the most vulnerable people in society," he says.
"They lack any duty of care to the Australian public, and I think the government's been happy to turn a blind eye so long as they're making tax revenue off these companies."
'Weight of evidence'
For a long time, Australia has gambled more than any other nation, spending about $25 billion a year on pokies, casinos, sports betting, animal racing and lotteries.
Gambling is enshrined in the nation's popular culture via the tradition of two-up, the triumphs of Phar Lap, and the image of the lovable larrikin having a punt.
Despite that, research shows only about 35 per cent of Australians gamble in an average month, with a large portion of these purchasing lottery tickets.
But it is the new generation of alluringly convenient phone apps that has revolutionised the industry and alarmed many in the community.
Experts say the rapid increase in mobile phone betting — which has led to Australians gambling 20 per cent more online than any other nation — has been driven by aggressive advertising and pandemic lockdowns.
Rebecca Jenkinson, from the Australian Gambling Research Centre, says while conventional forms of gambling have plateaued or decreased slightly, online betting has bucked the trend.
"All of the data shows an increase in online gambling during the COVID pandemic, and those increases have been sustained," Dr Jenkinson says.
"We had expected that levels would drop off once people were back at work and socialising again, but that didn't happen.
"There are a range of ways it can impact people: conflict in relationships, financial harm from losing money, impacts on work and study due to tiredness or being absent.
"And a real concern for us is around the emotional or psychological harms — feelings of regret and failure — that are linked to health harms like stress or depression."
It is a community concern about those impacts – and the potential risk to children — that has triggered the parliamentary inquiry.
So far more than 120 written submissions have been received, and public hearings are being streamed online.
The committee chair, Victorian Labor MP Peta Murphy, says it is clear the community feels strongly about the issue.
"As a committee we have to hear all of the evidence before we reach any conclusions," she explains.
"But it has to be said the evidence that we've received so far … is there's a weight of evidence about increasing harm and concern in the community.
"This inquiry is not saying that all gambling is evil, and all gambling has to stop … it's looking at what we can do to minimise harm."
Industry responds
Industry group Responsible Wagering Australia has made a submission outlining the benefits to the community, and the adequacy of current regulation.
It points out its members – which include major players like Sportsbet and bet365 – sustain more than 32,000 jobs, and contributed almost $2 billion in taxes and levies in the last financial year.
In a statement, the group told the ABC that its members "remain committed to continuing to strengthen responsible gambling in Australia".
On the subject of advertising, it said it was open to a fresh conversation with government about potential changes, as long as they are evidence-based and sustainable.
The inquiry committee is planning to hold public forums early in 2023 to see whether the broader community thinks further regulation is needed.
What could change?
There are several key changes being discussed.
The first relates to advertising.
Research from Nielson Research backs up the perception of a big increase in advertising.
The number of TV advertisements jumped 150 per cent in the five years to 2021, and the industry is spending triple what it did a decade ago.
There are restrictions on broadcast times and warning messages were recently bolstered, but many have appealed to the committee to recommend a full ban on gambling advertising.
Other proposed options include a national regulator to centralise and streamline oversight of the industry, and daily gambling limits, similar to what is being introduced in Tasmania.
'It makes the game more interesting'
Mitch and Jake are typical of the young men who have taken to the new generation of mobile-phone betting apps.
For them, it's a bit of fun – a quick bet on a horse race while catching up with friends, or a way to liven up a dull game of football.
"It's really just a social thing when you're hanging out with mates in the pub," Mitch says.
"It makes the game of footy a bit more interesting — you can bet on things like goal-scorers, disposals, different stats."
The pair say they aren't aware of anyone who gambles excessively, but acknowledge they wouldn't necessarily know.
"I don't think people put out there how much they gamble … and I guess people get affected differently and it could become a problem for some," Mitch says.
"They definitely design everything to suck you in, with the advertisements and promotions," Jake adds.
Profiting from harm?
It's the sophisticated techniques being used to lure new gamblers that has researchers like Matt Stevens worried.
He has been studying gambling patterns and policy for 20 years, and currently works as a research consultant.
He says the rise of online betting apps is unlike anything he's seen before.
"Unlike other types of gambling, you can do it lying in bed, sitting on your couch, or going for a walk in the park," Dr Stevens says.
"And the sports betting industry are incredibly dynamic and smart with their marketing, which is mainly directed at young men.
"And what they're really pushing now are these multis, or multi-bets, where you have two or three bets all linked together.
"And there's a reason for that — the research is starting to show these are the worst bets, the ones that people lose on the most, and the odds offered are not commensurate with the betting risk they're taking."
Dr Stevens believes the industry has been given too much rein to profit from a harmful product.
"I would give them a two out of 10 when it comes to the job they're doing [of behaving responsibly]," he says.
"We have a system where the regulation and policy is way, way behind the industry – the industry is setting the pace.
"And I think [government] has been wilfully turning a blind eye, and not actually wanting to make the legislation that would reduce the revenues and taxation income."
Still being targeted
For Mark Kempster, sharing his story is a way of trying to reconcile with the mistakes he made.
"Everyone has got to take responsibility for their own actions, and I'm trying to do that now," he says.
"I can't change what I've done, but I want to help people not fall into the same traps that I did.
"And I want people to understand what the industry does to try and keep you gambling."
To demonstrate, he opens a laptop computer and shows a recent email.
It is from a gambling company registered in Australia, and it's covered with a bright cheerful font encouraging him to sign for a bet on the Melbourne Cup.
He grimaces.
For more than a year he's been on every self-exclusion register available, supposedly blocking betting companies from contacting him.
But still the enticing promotional offers come.
"For a problem gambler to receive this kind of email is just so hard," he says.
"And to think it's OK to send it to people battling addiction? It just shows how deep the issues are for the industry.
"Every time I get an email or a text message I contact the company, but I get pretty generic responses saying, 'We shouldn't have done it, we'll do better next time'.
"We are on the crest of a pandemic wave of gambling addiction, and unless we regulate to stop this happening, it's going to ruin whole generations of people."
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