Modernising harm prevention for gambling in Australia: International lessons for public health policy and improved regulation of gambling

Australia leads the world in per capita gambling losses. Harms experienced by gambling are substantial and can be severe. I undertook a Churchill Fellowship to investigate international lessons for public health policy and improved gambling regulation. The aim was to understand measures that had been introduced in other jurisdictions to prevent and reduce gambling-related harm, as well as factors that enabled the introduction of these measures.
The study involved key informant interviews with gambling regulators, consumer advocates and affected others, politicians, academics and operators, in eleven cities across seven countries (France, England, Scotland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland). I discussed ways to develop global responses to the public health challenge of gambling with UNESCO (Paris) and WHO (Geneva). I also provided presentations outlining recent research from Australia to audiences in four countries.
This report provides a summary of key public health lessons that could be considered to improve gambling regulation in Australia. Additional findings will be detailed in a future peer reviewed manuscript.