GHLEE Media Releases
Loss Limits Not Lost Lives: Call to enforce loss limits on all poker machines
29 October 2025
This Gambling Harm Action week an Australia-wide call is being made for each state and territory to enforce loss limits on poker machines of $100 per day, $500 per month, and $5000 per year.
Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE) say this simple act will literally save lives.
GHLEE Co-Chair Kate Seselja has shared her story of gambling harm on a Change.Org petition, which has already reached more than 5500 signatures, imploring Australia’s Premiers and Chief Ministers to introduce enforceable loss limits as a priority.
“Our state and territory governments must put people over profits and make simple, effective changes now. The risk Australians face from poker machines increases every day, and it’s time to act before more lives are lost or ruined by a dangerous product designed to addict,” Mrs Seselja said.
“Our Premiers and Chief Ministers cannot argue with the fact that year on year, we are seeing gambling company profits rise while poker machine losses soar and consumer safety is ignored.
“Surely our public representatives have an obligation to us as people first and foremost, to ensure our communities are safe and thriving, and not to worry about the gambling industry’s profits.”
Mrs Seselja said Tasmania was close to introducing loss limits via a cashless poker machines card system but later paused this rollout, claiming it wanted to work with other states on a solution.
“That’s not good enough. We need all states and territories working together to make these changes stick and it’s long past time it happened,” she said. “Our governments have to stop caving into the gambling industry and their ridiculous excuses when the reality is they just want profits.
“In some states you can lose up to $6000 in just 30 minutes on poker machines. That’s nothing short of dangerous and can be deadly for some people.
“That is why we are asking Australians to sign our petition. We need to be united to have our voices heard. We want “Loss Limits Not Lost Lives” and don’t think that’s too much to ask for.
“There’s a reason why Australia has the world’s highest losses on poker machines, more than $13BILLION per year, and it’s because the industry has not been reined in by our governments.
“Nowhere else in the world has poker machines spread throughout their suburbs like we do in Australia. Along with their addictive design, that’s what makes them so dangerous – their easy accessibility in spaces in which it should be safe to socialise, not have gambling proffered.
“All we are asking for is a way to limit how much people can lose so they don’t lose their families and potentially their lives. Far too many suicides in Australia are related to gambling harm. And it’s arguably the number one avoidable cause of poverty in Australia. The reality is most of us will know someone who has suffered gambling harm or who has a loved one who has. It’s not too much to ask for people to be put before profits.”
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Media inquiries to Rebecca Thorpe: 0478 363 455 rebeccaghlee@gmail.com
New national organisation formed to fight gambling harm
19 October 2023
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A newly-formed national organisation to fight gambling harm has called for the name of Gambling Harm Awareness Week to be changed to Gambling Harm Action Week.
Gambling Harm Lived Experience Experts (GHLEE) say it’s past time that action is taken to prevent gambling harm from ruining lives.
GHLEE Co-Chair Kate Seselja said the gambling industry would much prefer that the name of this week stayed the same, to maintain the status quo and the illusion of action.
“Like with so much associated with gambling harm, language matters, and we want to see actual ACTION happening to really address this insidious issue,” Mrs Seselja said.
“All of us involved in GHLEE have experienced or witnessed gambling harm first-hand. We’ve seen the lasting harm gambling does to people, to families, to communities. We are tired of the one week of the year that puts focus on gambling being focused on awareness, which reinforces the industry's personal responsibility narratives and does nothing to highlight the need for action.
“Gambling harm is addiction by design and this public health crisis demands an appropriate response. We are the nation experiencing the highest level of gambling harm on the planet. It’s well past time for action and the only awareness I’m interested in is knowing why our government can know these facts and still prioritise the wellbeing of this predatory industry instead of the wellbeing of Australian communities.”
Mrs Seselja and many of the other members of GHLEE have been active advocates in the reform space for years. While they have achieved some success, they know they are stronger together so formed GHLEE to amplify their individual voices and deliver even more gambling harm reduction advocacy wins.
“No one has more insight on any issue, than those who have the direct lived experience of it. This is especially true, when it comes to gambling harm,” Mrs Seselja said.
“Only someone who has been in the pits of despair that gambling harm brings can appreciate how important an issue this is to address. WE are the key stakeholders and we are appalled at the fact that the industry is invited to the table to discuss solutions to the problems they knowingly create. The industry is not a stakeholder, they are the perpetrators of harm. Just like how we don’t sit down with big tobacco and ask what materials they feel comfortable with during quit smoking week we should not include the gambling industry as a valid stakeholder in gambling harm awareness, let alone gambling reform.
“Those closest to the harm are closest to the solutions. All of us involved with GHLEE want to use our lived experience to ensure that we truly tackle one of the leading preventable causes of poverty in Australia.
“The data reflects the harm. We’re in the middle of a cost of living crisis and gambling losses are increasing, not decreasing. Every single dollar of the $26 billion spent on gambling is a dollar that could be more effectively used in our communities.
“We know we are in a David vs Goliath battle here as a small group of individuals fighting a billion-dollar industry with all the power and influence that brings. But we remind ourselves every day that David won his battle, and we will too because we want to see people, families and communities thriving, whereas the gambling industry just wants to squeeze them for every last dollar they have.”