Gambling companies are preparing to increase their use of harmful inducements that encourage people to spend more money in response to the AFL’s push for a larger share of gambling revenue. Earlier this week, Guardian Australia revealed that AFL executives had cited concerns about serious shortcomings in the integrity system to justify a campaign to seize a bigger share of money gambled on its games. Documents seen by Guardian Australia showed that the AFL initially wanted to charge all bookmakers a minimum annual fee of $20,000. For some, this was lowered to $3,000 in 2025, $5,000 in 2026 and $7,000 in 2027. While this was small change for large bookmakers, it was a significant hit for smaller operators that typically focus on horse racing. James Filgate, a Victorian bookmaker who runs the brand JimmyBet, said that he had refrained from sending inducements to customers for many years, but that this would now change in response to the AFL’s plan to seize more gambling money. Almost 18 months ago, a bipartisan federal inquiry led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy called for inducements to be banned “without delay”. The Wesley Mission general manager, Jim Wackett, said that the threat of increased inducements demonstrated why federal government action in response to the Murphy inquiry was overdue. Public health academic Samantha Thomas said that the dispute showed why a national gambling regulator “with the sole purpose of reducing harm” was required.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/mar/04/gambling-companies-inducements-promotions-afl-revenue-grab-ntwnfb