How can Australian state governments force people to gamble all of their deposits with bookmakers?
Summary : Australians lose over $25 billion each year through gambling - more per capita than any country in the world! A significant proportion of gamblers suffer harm to their financial security, relationships and mental health; their families and friends often suffer too. You might naively think Australian governments would try to minimise these harms but $25 billion per year generates a lot of vested interests. Political parties get millions in donations . Regulatory and licencing bodies (and their staff) are funded by gambling industry fees and tax. And State governments want the job creation and easy tax revenue. Below I describe how Australian state and territory governments are illegitimately colluding with the gambling industry to increase gambling losses via changes like requiring all deposits to be gambled before they can be withdrawn. Easy to get your cash in, but it's now no longer yours to control once it's in!