Anti-gambling advocates are coming up with alternative ways for would-be punters to enjoy themselves and minimise gambling harms
Warning: This article includes discussion of suicide and gambling addiction.
It's just before midday on a Saturday and punters fill the corners of Brookvale's TAB outlet.
They queue at the terminals, hunting for a winning horse in the first race. Then, as the gates open at Randwick Racecourse, all eyes are glued to a screen.
Most people are alone, each on their own mission. The only mateship on display is talk of gambling.
In November, the Melbourne Cup will attract even more punters to local TAB outlets. Known as "the race that stops the nation", it draws more betting than any other Australian race.
But brick-and-mortar betting agencies are only part of the picture.
Online betting is becoming increasingly popular, with a 2025 Australian National University study finding that 77 per cent of Australians who bet on races did so online at least half the time.
The report also found that, while gambling participation rates are falling slightly, the levels of problem gambling are markedly increasing.
"[The] findings highlight intensifying harm despite declining participation, highlighting a critical need for regulatory and public health responses targeting online gambling," the report's authors said.
So, as another Melbourne Cup approaches, some anti-gambling advocates are coming up with alternative ways for would-be punters to enjoy themselves and minimise gambling harms.
The reforms
In 2023, the parliamentary inquiry into gambling harms, chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, released the report "You win some, you lose more".
The report described the "increasingly widespread and serious harm to individuals, families and communities" from online gambling.
And its 31 recommendations included phasing in an online gambling advertising ban within three years.
But, despite widespread support for the report, it languished on federal government desks for almost three years.
Then in August, Parliament passed the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill.
The bill, which will take effect from 1 January 2027, caps TV wagering ads at three an hour between 5am and 8:30pm.
When the bill was passed, communications minister Anika Wells described the reforms as "the most significant in Australia's history".
But many say the reforms have not gone far enough to prevent harm.
Dr Sophie Scamps, the independent federal member for Mackellar, said the government's response was "weak and piecemeal, and will not be effective in reducing gambling harm".
"[Children] will still see up to three gambling ads an hour on TV and from 8.30pm it is a free-for-all, even during sport," she said via email.
"Their response was more about protecting the profits of multinational gambling companies than the wellbeing of Australians.
"One of the saddest stories I have heard was of a young man who had self-excluded from gambling for several months and was going well, but the day his [self-exclusion] registration expired, he was sent gambling marketing and incentives that got him straight back into gambling.
"The shame was such that he took his life, and the family are still dealing with the grief years later."
The local fight
In August, the NSW government, which oversees state pokies regulation, announced its own reforms. This includes a statewide exclusion register backed by facial recognition in gaming rooms.
Northern Beaches councillor Kristyn Glanville described both state and federal reforms as "pretty lame".
"The state government, I think, is really co-opted by the hotel industry, and so they're really not that motivated to make meaningful reform," she said.
Of the federal bill, she said: "I don't even think you need to reinvent the wheel. The government just has to implement the findings of its own inquiry."
Glanville sits on the Northern Beaches Gambling Reform Alliance committee, a newly formed group of local volunteers working to reduce gambling harm.
The group wants to challenge what Glanville called the "sort of lie" that venues need pokies to survive and instead help them come up with other ways to raise income.
"A lot of sporting groups and community organisations are relying on club grants," she said.
One of the group's ideas is to help "facilitate connecting them to other businesses that don't get pokies income".
No pokies, no TAB, no gambling
This Cup Day, the committee will host Nup to the Cup, a gambling-free event at Brookvale's 7th Day Brewery.
"You don't need to have gambling or animal cruelty to have a fun event and a successful venue," Glanville said.
The event will feature live music, with plenty to eat and drink.
The brewery's general manager and co-owner, Joel Ridzuan, has spent almost 25 years in hospitality. He said the Melbourne Cup is "romanticised [and] heavily focused on young people going out … drinking a stack of beers [and] gambling".
"I don't think gambling is something that you do with mates that's a healthy activity," he said.
"[Nup to the Cup] really aligned with our brand.
"[The Melbourne Cup] could be just this one-off day of gambling that sends you down a road where you get really hooked."
Over the course of his career, he’s witnessed incentives, including free transport, food and drinks, to keep punters gambling.
"There's so much that's been done to incentivise people to come and gamble, and we've turned a blind eye, especially … [in] New South Wales [and] Queensland".
"A lot of those venues will run their food and beverage at a loss knowing that they can make a lot of money through pokies … We can't do that," he said.
"Our business has prospered remarkably, but it's been extremely hard.
"We've got a whole team of people who all believe in live music and the arts, and we feel strongly against poker machines and gambling because we think that it's just lazy hospitality," Ridzuan said.
If you or someone you know needs support, please contact:
- Lifeline (24-hour crisis line): 131 114
- National Gambling Helpline or call 1800 858 858
- Gamblers Anonymous on 1800 551 800
