‘What drugs do you want’? Senate inquiry allegations reveal the murky dangers of betting inducements

A Senate inquiry has heard striking testimony about what Australian betting companies do to keep customers gambling. According to The Conversation, former NRL player Luke Bateman told lawmakers that wagering companies offered him cocaine, free alcohol at race meetings, and bonus bets to keep him betting. Another witness alleged major operators TAB and SportsBet provided accommodation, escorts, and drugs to a high-rolling bettor. The government's proposed gambling laws don't ban inducements despite a twenty twenty-three independent inquiry strongly recommending they should. Research shows inducements increase betting spending by over ten percent and disproportionately harm problem gamblers. Yet the government hasn't explained why it's ignoring that recommendation—or why its own self-exclusion system, BetStop, has been breached hundreds of times without penalty. Nearly one in five Australian adults gambles at risky levels.

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