Survey Says: Australians Favor More Gambling Regulations

According to a survey by the Australian National University has revealed that many Australians would like to see tougher regulations on the gambling industry.

The results of the survey show that more than half of those surveyed have gambled within the past year, while 28% did not gamble at all. However, the surprising result that was discovered is that seven out of ten people polled believe that the gambling industry within Australia needs tighter controls. Three out of four respondents believe gamblers should state how much they intend to gamble before they begin playing.

Dr. Tanya Davidson, who works for the Australian National University's Centre for Gambling Research said that the government's proposal to put pre-commitment systems in poker machines by 2014 was backed by both gamblers and non-gamblers.

"This reflects a general support in the Australian public for the broad principle of pre-commitment, that people should pre- commit to an amount of money they nominate before they start to gamble," she said in the report released Thursday.

"It tends to suggest that people on the whole may think that the principle behind commitment is not going too far, or that it is not too heavy-handed."

Survey respondents also showed that they believe gambling problems are most connected with poker machines, following by greyhound and horse racing.