GHLEE people and
gambling harm in the news
Kaching -- A pokie nation documentary​
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You Can't Ask That
ABC TV documentary
Series 2 episode Gambling features three of GHLEE's Board members: our co-founders Anna Bardsley and Paul Fung, and our co-chair Kate Seselja. Watch here.
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Enforce loss limits on all Australian poker machines
change.org
Australians lose more money to gambling per person than any other nationality in the world. Gambling is a national public health crisis, and the government needs to step in.
We at GHLEE are calling for each state and territory to enforce loss limits on poker machines of $100 per day, $500 per month, and $5000 per year. This simple act will literally save lives. Sign Petition here.
I Was Losing Thousands Every Month | Kate's Gambling Story
ODAAT Gambling Awareness
Kate Seselja shares her powerful story of how Australia’s pokies shattered lives and families. This video exposes the human cost of a system designed for loss — and why real change is urgently needed. Watch here.
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Inside a mum's 12-year battle with Australia's 'electronic heroin'
news.com.au
Sydney mum Kate Seselja endured a 12-year battle with poker machines — a grip so powerful she calls it “electronic heroin.” Her story lays bare how these machines are designed to hook and harm, exposing the human cost behind Australia’s poker machine industry. Read here.
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Kate Seselja shares her story after losing more than $500k to gambling
A Current Affair
Kate lost more than half a million dollars to a gambling addiction. She's got a simple solution to prevent others from falling into the same trap. Watch here.
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The hidden harm of poker machines
ABC News Breakfast
In this powerful interview, Carolyn Crawford shares her raw and honest story of how a casual visit to a venue spiralled into a devastating gambling addiction — costing her job, freedom, and financial security. After serving time in prison, Carolyn found strength in recovery and turned her experience into advocacy, speaking out to expose the real harm caused by poker machines. Watch here.
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Losing Streak
ABC Four Corners
​ Four Corners reporter Steve Cannane reveals how financial advisers courted with inducements, have gambled away their clients' investments uninhibited by regulation or oversight. In some cases, while the advisors have gone to jail, and the victims remain empty handed, the companies that accepted the bets have not returned a cent. Cannane and the team ask why the federal government has failed to respond to a cross parliamentary blueprint for reform and what it will take to curb the harms of a sector that turns over tens of billions of dollars a year. Watch here.
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The federal government under fire for failing to act on proposed gambling reforms
ABC Radio Victoria Regional
The Murphy report - You win some, you lose more is the most significant inquiry into online gambling and the harm it causes to Australian Communities. After promising a response prior to the federal election in 2024 the Labor federal government is yet to implement reform.
Anna Bardsley GHLEE co-founder shares her thoughts about the Murphy Report and the impacts of online gambling and gambling advertising in sport. Listen here.
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Ads, sports and games: how gambling infiltrated Australian culture
ABC Radio National
If you're watching sport or browsing social media, odds are you will come across gambling ads. If you work in an office, you might've joined Melbourne Cup or footy tipping comps. In Australia, it can feel like gambling is everywhere. Today, we look at how everything from video games to shopping sites seem to be priming us for betting-like behaviours, and how the ubiquity of gambling ads is influencing young people in particular.
Listen here.
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Highest losses on poker machines ever recorded in NSW
ABC Radio Sydney
2.27 billion lost on poker machines in three months in New South Wales between April and June 2025. This is the highest quarterly loss over ever recorded, 4.8 million dollars a day and more than a billion dollars an hour lost. Our co-chair Kate Seselja shares her experience of gambling harm and how she almost took her life.
Listen here.
MPs​ servants to 'predatory' pokies
The Sun-Herald
Kate Seselja is one of Australia’s leading gambling reform advocates, particularly in the field of poker machines. I spoke to her on Thursday in the wake of the damning report by the NSW auditor-general, which criticises the government for “not setting any targets for reducing harm associated with gaming machines”. Read here.
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Vegas 'junket' lands gaming giants in hot water
Sydney Morning Herald​
Six gaming machine manufacturers will be referred to the gaming authority for offering club executives "study tours" to Las Vegas in exchange for buying poker machines, following the largest investigation ever conducted by Liquor and Gaming NSW. Read here.
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​Ads for online gambling should be banned in Australia within three years, inquiry recommends
The Guardian
The inquiry called for the government to implement a comprehensive national strategy on online gambling harm reduction, supported by national regulation, an online gambling ombudsman, a harm reduction levy on online wagering service providers, a public education campaign, more independent research and improved data collection. Read here.
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As the gambling advertising ban debate heats up, a new report calls for maximum loss limits for pokies and online betting
ABC News
Australia has the highest gambling losses in the world because governments have taken "a lax approach to regulating gambling", according to a new report from the Grattan Institute.
It suggests a complete ban on gambling ads and limits on how much people can bet when at the pokies and via online betting platforms. Read here.
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Gambling survivors send message to the PM
ABC Radio National
GHLEE co-founder Anna Bardsley told Radio National Breakfast that we need meaningful gambling reform to protect people - saying "we have the worst legislation in the world." She says the group hasn't been able to get an audience with the Communications Minister or the Prime Minister. Listen here.
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Calls for measures to curb gambling harm
ABC Radio PM​
A Grattan Institute report found Australia leads the world in gambling losses per capita, with the average person losing $1,600 a year.
The report points to ways to prevent harm, including limits on how much individuals can gamble online and on poker machines and it raises the contentious issue of gambling advertising. This piece features GHLEE co-founder Anna Bardsley. Listen here.
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Program Helping Women Kick Life-Changing Gambling Addiction
The Project
Statistics show women in Australia are gambling at similar rates to men, and the effects can be catastrophic. For GHLEE's Carolyn and The Untangle Project's Anna, gambling nearly cost them their lives, and now they are urging other women to learn from their mistakes and get support. Watch here.
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How 'gambling courts' can save people addicted to gambling like Carolyn
​ABC News
In 2015, South Australia's Magistrates' Court system became the first in Australia to recognise gambling addiction as a contributing factor to crime. GHLEE board member Carolyn Crawford wants the system rolled out across Australia. Read here.​​
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How do you sleep at night?
ABC Radio Podcast
The episode The Pokies King features an interview with arguably the man who has most benefited from gambling harm in Australia -- Len Ainsworth -- and members of GHLEE. Listen here.​​​
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Australian doctors call for clampdown on social media influencers allegedly glamorising poker machines
The Guardian
The peak body for Australian doctors has urged politicians and social media companies to restrict “shocking” content of influencers allegedly glamorising poker machines on social media, in what it called an incredibly new phenomenon. The warning comes after a report commissioned by the Victorian government found the social cost of gambling in the state had doubled – from $7bn in 2014-15 to $14bn in 2022-23 – despite fewer people gambling. The report suggested those at higher risk of gambling harm were spending more money. Read here.
Social costs of gambling to Victoria, 2023 Report
Victorian Department of Justice and Community Safety
The study adopted a public health approach, examining costs associated with gambling with estimates of the tangible and intangible costs of gambling harm to Victoria associated with all gambling forms, including illegal offshore wagering. It also considers the significant impact of gambling harm on affected others such as family members and friends, as well as the wider community. The estimated costs came to $14.1 billion. Read here.
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Sweeping gambling reforms to minimise harm in Victoria
SBS News​
The Victorian government has announced a series of reforms to reduce gambling harm at venues with electronic gaming machines across the state.
​"I never had a parking ticket in my life," Carolyn Crawford said.
"But here I am, going to prison because I stole — over seven years — $400,000 from my employer."
Crawford is now an advocate of gambling reform and says she's paid back all the money to the company.
On Sunday, she joined Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and gaming minister Melissa Horne for an announcement of a series of reforms for electronic gaming machines across the state. Read here.
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Sports Betting
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
John Oliver discusses sports betting, how it became so popular, why it can be so damaging. Watch here.
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Gambling add Ban: The cost of gambling addiction
​Mamamia
A parliamentary inquiry recommended all ads for online gambling should be banned within three years. The committee put forward 31 recommendations in its final report while calling for a crackdown on an industry that was "manipulating an impressionable and vulnerable audience. Read here.
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Advocates say stigma around gambling harm leaves some young women reaching 'crisis point' before seeking support
ABC News
Sports betting companies are increasingly targeting women, using tactics like novelty bets that make gambling more accessible via smartphones. Read here.
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