Warning: this article contains details about suicide.

Sweat drips down Jack Lusty’s face. His heart firmly thumps his chest. In 10 minutes of gambling he’s up $32,000. With adrenaline and nerves coursing through his veins Lusty decides to continue betting. Within six minutes of continuing, the $32,000 he’s won has completely gone.

For 36-year-old Jack Lusty of Albany this was all a blur. For Lusty, he is just a statistic. Gambling advertisements are becoming more frequent at sporting events, online and on TV, causing young people to believe gambling is a normal part of growing up. The data is now showing that this generation is conditioned to gambling. But what damage is it doing and what can be done about it?

Lusty grew up in the United Kingdom and started making bets at 16-years-old after being exposed to family and friends gambling. Lusty first sought help at Gamblers Anonymous in the UK for two years before he left for Australia when he was 19. However, the dealings he had at Gamblers Anonymous weren’t effective in his attempt to cure his gambling addiction.

According to a study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health by Deakin University, three in four Australia children aged eight to sixteen years who watch sport, think betting on sport is normal and can also name one or more sports betting companies, with 25 per cent naming four or more.

Lecturer at Curtin School of Public Health Doctor Louise Francis says more young people today are exposed to gambling advertisements because of the easy access to social media in the comfort of their own home. 

“I think it is a concern to the parents to how much gambling advertising is out there and the exposure that the young children are seeing because of these ads either in-stadium if they are out at a football or other sporting event. They are seeing it on free-to-air TV and on social media, so it is actually 24-hour access,” she says. 

Francis says research data suggests that males are more exposed to gambling and taking up gambling than females.

“I think what young people in Australia are seeing is the normalisation of gambling ads, so they see gambling as quite normal and part of the everyday. That is due in part to advertising which is saturating the market, so they see advertising on social media feeds, they see it if they do still watch traditional free to air television. It’s presented in a way that is very social and fun and something that they can do and potentially make some money out of it,” she says.

With children considered high consumers of the average 374 gambling advertisements on Australian free-to-air TV each day, Francis says there needs to be more restrictions imposed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). 

Research officer at the Kids Research Institute Australia Doctor Thom Nevill says Australia’s culture has created a negative environment for young people to see gambling as normal.

“It’s pretty strong data from the Australian Gambling Centre, who does a bunch of research in this space that young men aged between 18 to 34 are the demographics that are most likely to participate in gambling and more specifically, the demographic that’s most likely to participate in sports betting specifically.” 

Nevill says support services are lacking for young people being exposed to gambling around Australia and that restrictions need to be put in place through new media such as Instagram and Snapchat. 

“The federal government has already introduced some restrictions to advertising which is great. So stopping the advertising of in-game bets but more can be done. In countries like Spain, for instance, they’ve restricted advertising of sports betting from 1am to 5am, so it’s not going to be televised during those sporting events or when, young people or kids are watching TV,” he says.

“In terms of support around things, aside from advertising, I think that parents, having some resources around how they actually talk about betting with their children and putting it on their radar in the first place. Compared to things like drugs and alcohol, which are also risks that young men might engage in, but sports betting is probably not talked about to the same extent.”

Lusty believes social media has set back the younger generation and desensitises them to the content they watch growing up. 

“I’ve got a 10-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter, and even watching TV with them sometimes or sitting down watching whatever it is that they’re watching on their phones and tablet, TikTok or YouTube, and seeing all the sponsor ads and how everything is sort of AI now. It’s scary like hidden messages that are everywhere that they don’t even realise,” he says.

Jack’s ex-partner Katie says the gambling habits started at such a young age for Jack, it was hard to seek help and a recovery plan. 

“I guess I saw it with horse racing and probably the card games kind of came later. I’d say horse racing was probably the first part that I saw. It’s definitely an issue for kids that can see it. I’m not really sure how you would fix kids seeing it,” she says.

Katie says it’s important for gamblers to take action in their road to recovery otherwise the problem will never go away. 

“I think they probably only advertise the phone number of Gamblers Anonymous and I guess that doesn’t really help people. They can talk about it all they want but it doesn’t actually help them really overcome the problem that they have and that’s not treatment.”

“Hypnosis was definitely successful for Jack and he had to do it twice but that was part of it. He knew that when he had the hypnosis that it might not work forever and that he might need to do it again. But it was a pretty interesting process. I was there for the time that he had the session the second time and it was interesting to watch and see how it worked,” she says.  

Jack Lusty says hypnosis has played a crucial role in not only his gambling addiction but his mental well-being and health. 

In 2021, Lusty removed himself from every online gambling site he had heard of and hasn’t looked back since. It has been more than four years since he put on a bet and he encourages others that there is a way out. 

WA provides free, confidential counselling, support and information services for all people affected by gambling. Face-to-face counselling is available via Centrecare’s Gambling Help W.A. The free Gambling Helpline, 1800 858 858, is available 24/7. For more information please visit https://www.centrecare.com.au/metro-services/gambling-help-metropolitan-and-rural/gambling-help-wa