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In April 2018, Australian citizens were called the biggest gamblers in the world, as they lost almost AU$24 billion a year on gambling activities, with them generating the largest gambling losses per capita worldwide. The Queensland Government Statistician’s Office released information about the gambling losses of Australian people by categories for the 2015/2016 period. According to the state government office’s data, local people lost more than AU$12 billion on gaming machines, making so-called pokies the most preferred form of gambling in the country. Electronic gaming machines are by far the…

Responsible gambling has been one of the milestones of the Australian Government’s gambling policy for almost three decades now. The concept emerged as an invention of the gambling industry and has been developed over the years, at a time when gambling was legalised and expanded on a global scale. This provided the local gambling sector with the chance to find a way around stricter regulation, but unfortunately, it turned out to be an ineffective strategy as far as gambling-related harm minimisation is concerned. All existing casinos in Australia, as well…

A recent study into the services offered within the Irish mental health system showed that the Health Service Executive (HSE) does not currently offer enough treatment services which are especially aimed at problem gamblers. According to the results of the research, which were published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, there is only one body which offers adequate gambling addiction services. The leading psychiatrist Colin O’Gara, who heads the addiction services department at Saint John of God Hospital in Dublin, revealed that the lack of enough gambling…

The UK Gambling Commission is organizing a Manchester-based workshop that will focus on common safety and transparency requirements, as well as on customer protection requirements. The workshop, which is backed by Manchester City Council and is to be held at Performance Spaces Central Library, is being held as part of a series of nationwide workshops aimed especially at smaller gambling operators which offer their services under operating licenses issued by the UK gambling regulatory watchdog. The organizers have invited representatives from the smaller gambling operators in the Manchester’s region to…

A recent study carried out by the Deakin University, three out of four children who watch sports strongly associate sports games with wagering money on the result of such games. The results of the study have shown that the gambling age is continuously falling. As shocking as it may seem to some parents, this makes sense, especially considering the rising popularity of online betting and mobile phones gambling and betting applications. The Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation (VRGF), Louise Glanville, warned that some parents need to…

A problem gambling treatment expert in Ireland shared his concern about spreading gambling addiction among young people across the country. The manager of the Limerick-based Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre, Alan Galvin, explained that compulsive gambling is one of the most serious “epidemics” the country is facing. He said that he is concerned about the rising popularity of online gambling among young people and described the lack of control they usually demonstrate as one of the major issues. Mr. Galvin further shared that the variety of gambling operations offered on the…

The South Taranaki Club is to join 80 other venues in New Zealand which are to switch off their poker machines for an hour during the Gambling Harm Awareness Week. The bar and restaurant establishment is to take part in The Pause the Pokies initiative, risking a loss of quite some money, in an attempt to raise local residents’ awareness about gambling-related harm and problem gambling. Next week, over 80 venues in New Zealand are to turn off their electronic gaming machines, also known as poker machines, or pokies, for…

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) warned the online gambling operators that they must make sure all unfair restrictions for money withdrawals from customers’ accounts are removed. Otherwise, companies will have to face the gambling regulatory body’s enforcement action. The main gambling regulatory body which monitors and controls the gambling sector in the UK is committed to raising standards to the customers of the country’s gambling industry and is aimed at making sure they are fairly treated by operators. As the UKGC Executive Director Paul Hope reminded, last month the Commission…

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has approved new rules in terms of gambling advertising throughout live sports events streamed on the Internet. Under the new rules, a more restrictive regime is to be implemented on advertising gambling content during live sport online. The piece of legislation, called Broadcasting Services (Online Content Service Provider Rules) 2018, makes sure that streaming platforms would not advertise gambling during sports events aired on the Internet in the interval from 5:00 AM to 8:30 PM. The rules apply to e-sports and are set…

Hundreds of people who live in the Northland Region of New Zealand seem to be spending millions on poker machines on an annual basis. What is worse, most of them usually go through a crisis due to increasing debts that pile up as a result of their gambling habits. As recently revealed by Casino Guardian, The Māori and Pacific population not only spend a lot on gambling, and especially on so-called pokies, but are also at the highest risk of becoming problem gamblers. According to some figures released by the…