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Labor members launch internal push for gambling Reform

Labor for Gambling Reform

A new grassroots pressure group within the Labor Party will campaign for federal and state action on gambling reform, aiming to build momentum for next year’s NSW and national Labor conferences.

Labor for Gambling Reform is modeled on successful internal Labor groups like Rainbow Labor and the Labor Environmental Activist Network. It brings together rank and file members, trade unionists, Young Labor activists, and community leaders who are building branch-by-branch pressure across NSW communities, with plans to expand nationally.

The group of motivated grassroots members are demanding immediate implementation of gambling advertising bans recommended by the 2023 Murphy Review along with a phased reduction of poker machines by redirecting the $1 billion tax subsidy for club poker machines to compensation for licence removal.

"My generation is being systematically exploited by an industry that has turned our phones into gambling platforms and our sporting heroes into betting ambassadors," said Caitlin Marlor, President of NSW Young Labor and founding member of Labor for Gambling Reform.

"We are determined to speed up the reform process because young Australians can’t keep losing money that should be building home deposits and funding education."

The group will focus efforts on Western Sydney, where gambling harm is most concentrated. Fairfield, Canterbury-Bankstown, and Cumberland together account for one-third of Sydney's poker machine losses despite being home to just 16.5% of Sydney's population.

Mark Morey, Secretary of Unions NSW and patron of the group, said working families were being systematically targeted.

"Fairfield has one poker machine for every 55 residents while wealthy areas have virtually none. This is class warfare disguised as entertainment," Mr Morey said.

"The union movement has always stood against exploitation of workers - gambling corporations extracting $10 billion annually from working families is exploitation on an industrial scale."

The group is demanding immediate implementation of Recommendation 26 from the 2023 parliamentary inquiry led by the late Peta Murphy MP, which called for comprehensive gambling advertising bans to be implemented "immediately" and phased over three years.

More than two years after the Murphy Review's release, the Albanese Government has yet to implement the advertising ban recommendations despite Australia having the world's most severe gambling problem.

"Every day of delay exposes more young Australians to predatory marketing designed to create lifelong patterns of harmful gambling," Ms Marlor said.

"We refuse to accept that comprehensive advertising bans are 'too complex' or 'require more consultation' while other countries have acted decisively."

Key Statistics:

  • Almost one-third of teenagers under 18 illegally gamble, losing $18.4 million annually

  • Including 18-19 year-olds, total teenage gambling losses reach $231 million per year

  • Children are exposed to over one million gambling ads annually on free-to-air television alone

  • Sports betting among Australian men increased by 57.6% between 2015 and 2022

  • 67% of sports bettors are classified as being at risk of gambling harm

  • At least $10 billion of the $13 billion lost annually on poker machines comes from at-risk gamblers

Labor for Gambling Reform Demands:

NSW Government:

  • Moratorium on new poker machine licences in pubs and clubs

  • Phased five-year reduction of poker machines to bring NSW in line with Queensland

  • Ban betting advertising within sporting complexes and arenas

  • Redirect $1 billion tax subsidy for club poker machines to compensation for licence removal

Federal Government:

  • Prohibit all online gambling inducements and advertising

  • Legislate comprehensive ban on all gambling advertising across all media

  • Implement all 31 recommendations from the Murphy Review

The group will take their campaign to next year's NSW and National ALP Conferences, building grassroots pressure through branch meetings and electorate councils across the state.

Other founding members include Denise McHugh, Deputy President of the Independent Education Union and Chair of the NSW ALP Education and Skills Committee, teacher and community activist Joanna Woods, and former publican, bookmaker and Government Minister Harry Woods.

Media Contact: Nick Lucchinelli 0422 229 032