Gambling: An intergenerational justice issue
Last month the Victorian government announced new reforms on poker machines – but is it enough to tackle the harms caused by gambling, particularly in protecting future generations? In today’s article Dr Hannah Pitt (@HannahLPitt), Dr Simone McCarthy (@SimoneNicoleM), and Ms Grace Arnot (@GraceArnot), all from the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University (@IHT_Deakin) outline why gambling is an intergenerational justice issue and makes specific policy recommendations to protect communities from harm.
Gambling is an under-recognised public health threat
The gambling industry poses a significant threat to public health. There are a range of different gambling products (lotteries, casino games, online wagering, and poker machines) available in Australia that all have varying levels of risk. None of these products are harm free.
Gambling can have serious health consequences, but it’s harder than it should be to get away from the advertisements - including for children and young people. Photo by Sammie Chaffin on Unsplash
Australians lose more money per capita on gambling than any other country in the world. This is largely due to the availability and accessibility of high intensity poker machines situated in local communities, most commonly in areas of social disadvantage and deprivation. A new generation of online products also means that gambling products are available around the clock. The rapid normalisation of these products has been fuelled by a range of novel marketing strategies, which target wider audiences (e.g., women) and have saturated sporting events, family friendly shows, and digital platforms such as social media.
Gambling contributes to some of the most damaging health and social issues for communities including mental health, family violence, crime, homelessness, and suicide. Although the negative consequences of gambling have been framed by the gambling industry as only impacting a small proportion of individuals who have not taken full responsibility for the choices they have made about gambling, this framing both ignores the commercial, political, and environmental factors that influence gambling attitudes and behaviours and the many short- and long-term harms that have devastating effects for individuals, their families, friends, and broader community.
Despite this, unlike Australia’s world-leading public health response to other harmful industries such as tobacco and vaping, gambling is still not included in public health policy or health promotion priorities and is not considered to be within the remits of departments of health. Poor regulatory frameworks and novel technologies have enabled the industry to saturate environments with a diverse range of products and marketing.
The substantial changes in the development of novel gambling products and promotions have led researchers, communities, and governments to be particularly concerned about the way this may impact and shape young people’s gambling attitudes and consumption intentions.
The negative impact of gambling on our current and future generations
The concept of intergenerational justice refers to the political decisions that are made today and how they will have long-lasting impacts on future generations (those who are yet to be born). It has more commonly been explored within the climate crisis, but gambling also demonstrates intergenerational health impacts.
The current gambling landscape has created multiple opportunities for young people to be exposed to gambling products and promotions in their everyday settings. They have direct access to gambling 24/7 through their mobile devices as soon as they turn 18 (the legal age for gambling in Australia) and have a range of markets that they can gamble on beyond sporting events, including the winner of reality TV shows or the outcome of an election.
Research has shown that gambling marketing has had a significant impact on influencing children as young as eight years old to have positive attitudes about gambling and has contributed to perceptions that gambling is a normal and common part of sport. Some young people have even wanted to try gambling in the future because of the marketing that they have seen, including ‘getting a good deal’ from a bookmaker. Money back offers and celebrity endorsements create a perception that gambling has no risk attached to it. Young people who attend poker machine venues have positive perceptions that they can win on machines because they are able to hear coins dropping from the bistro where they are having dinner with their families.
A comprehensive public health approach to protecting young people
Drawing on the lessons from tobacco control, governments have a ready-made template to follow in protecting current and future generations from gambling harm. This includes ensuring that gambling is considered a public health issue, that there are restrictions on the accessibility and promotion of gambling, and that the gambling industry and those with vested interests have no role in decisions relating to policy, research, or practice.
Young people themselves back comprehensive action on the gambling industry; which is in line with the recommendations from public health experts. They recommend:
Comprehensive bans to all gambling marketing and sponsorships.
Reducing the availability and accessibility of gambling products – particularly the number of poker machines in socially disadvantaged areas.
Making existing gambling products safer (such as evidence-based limits on time and money that can be spent on gambling)
Education campaigns that are focused on the risks associated with products rather than personal behaviours, are evidence-based, well-funded, sustained, and free from vested industry involvement.
Recently, a Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm unanimously endorsed a tobacco-style approach to the industry. Some of the key recommendations included a total ban of all forms of marketing for online gambling, a national strategy to address gambling harm, a national regulator, and a commitment to fund more research. The Federal Labor Government, led by Minister for Communications Michelle Rowlands (who earlier admitted to accepting donations from online bookmaker Sportsbet) and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth have 6 months to respond. To ensure better health and wellbeing outcomes for our current and future generations, it is crucial that governments act now and implement comprehensive, evidence-based regulations that protect communities from the tactics of the gambling industry.
Lead author Hannah Pitt currently holds a VicHealth Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, examining how to facilitate the voices of young people in local government health advocacy. Her views may not reflect the position of VicHealth.
Posted by Susan Maury (@SusanMaury)