A change in the way online games are classified came into effect on September 22. The Australian Government now requires any video game that includes gambling-like content to have higher classifications to prevent children from accessing games that promote gambling.

Video games containing in game purchases linked to elements of chance will automatically receive a Mature (M) classification, and games that include any form of simulated gambling will have a mandatory R18+ rating. 

According to a 2023 study by the Australian Gambling Research Centre, Australians aged 18-34 are most likely to experience harm from problem gambling.

Anti-gambling advocate GHLEE National Communications Director and Board Member Rebecca Thorpe said: “The gambling industry is always going to be looking at ways to get the next generation addicted.”

Curtin lecturer of Public Health Louise Francis said the increase in gambling by young Australians is a result of gambling advertising. 

The Interactive Gambling Amendment (Ban on Gambling Advertisements) Bill 2024 is currently being debated in the federal parliament, and it could change advertising laws about games and gambling. 

This follows the recommendations of a June 2023 parliament committee report headed by Victorian MP Peta Murphy’s called You win some, you lose more . The report suggested a phased approach over four years to completely ban advertising. 

Ms Francis warned the government may water down the recommendations and implement a partial ban instead. 

“The fact that the Government now is not going down [the original] path is really concerning,” she said. 

Ms Thorpe said: “Australia led the way on banning tobacco advertising, we were brave back then, I just wish we could be brave with this”. 

Promoting gambling to children is illegal, but Ms Francis said the industry uses elements like colours and graphics to appeal to a younger audience. 

Ms Thorpe said young adults don’t see gambling as a problem, more as a fun activity to do with friends. 

“They think you can’t enjoy sport without having a bet with your mates,” she said.

Gambling ads are everywhere; on TV, the radio, on social media and in social games. 

A social game is defined as a computer game that is played with or against other people, but Ms Francis said a lot of online social games are replicating what real gambling looks like. 

“If a young child is on a social game that has all these bells and whistles that look similar to an EGM [electronic gambling machine] or what’s seen in a casino, it is normalising it,” she said. 

Ms Thorpe said the machines are designed to be addictive by creating a dopamine release in a user’s brain to keep them gambling. 

Ms Francis said children are at high risk of developing gambling addictions if they begin gambling at a young age. 

She said due to their underdeveloped brains, children often mistake fake game money for real money and fail to grasp the consequences of gambling and sometimes they are building up debts into the thousands.

Australians lose 25 billion dollars a year to gambling, the largest amount per capita globally.

Ms Thorpe said: “We are the biggest losers in the world”. 

She hopes changing the advertising laws will change this figure too.