Wilkie's Wishlist

If AFL fans didn’t know who Andrew Wilkie was in May of this year, they will definitely know who he is before May next year. May is the deadline Wilkie has given the Gillard Government to pass his pokie reform laws if they want to ensure his support. As one of the 3 independent senators who have helped Labor form government his support is crucial in ensuring they maintain power and Wilkie has used this position to push his pokie reform laws to national attention.

But what does this have to do with AFL fans? Well quite a lot actually.
If the reforms are passed the revenue lost from pokie machines owned by football clubs in Victoria alone stands to be at an estimated $30 million. It’s no wonder Eddie McGuire has labelled the reforms a “footy tax”.

Yet when you actually consider the reality of what gambling can do to an individual, a family or a community perhaps Wilkie’s reforms are the stimulus Australia needs to consider the relationship between gambling and sport.

It is exceptionally difficult to not to emotionalise an issue which has so much capacity to ruin lives.

Latha Raman is the head of the Gambling Help Team at Centrecare and works closely with problem gamblers to help them overcome their addictions and offers support when they need it most.

The programs that Centrecare offer to help problem gamblers are all voluntary so gamblers need to actively seek out their services themselves, but Ms Raman says that the accessibility to gambling which sports like AFL now offer is worrying.

“Having such a close relationship between gambling and sport is fairly concerning. In this modern age it is worrying that anyone watching an AFL game, children included, can be exposed to methods of gambling without even being aware of it”.

The methods Ms Raman refers to are features like internet betting or apps on smartphones which now allow you to put real time bets on a game you’re watching at the push of a button.

In the wake of the pokie reform debate Andrew Demetriou, the CEO of the AFL, has said the AFL wants to help “raise awareness around problem gambling and actually tackle that issue, not put our clubs in jeopardy.” But what, if anything, does that mean for football teams at lower levels?

Darren Davis, the WAFL and High Performance Competition Manager for the West Australian Football Commission, has suggested that gambling, in the WAFL at least, is only dealt with on a player or official level to ensure these individuals do not participate in gambling on WAFL games.

“The ‘official’ anti-gambling line is that if you’re associated with a club as a player or an official there is an absolute blanket ban. All players and coaches are made aware of the WAFL Anti-Gambling and and Corruption Policy and we take it very seriously” he said.

“We’re yet to have an instance in the WAFL where a player or official has been found guilty of breaching this policy, but we have very few resources to actually monitor this.”

The sheer reality of how close the relationship between gambling and Australian Rules football has become was demonstrated this year when Collingwood player Heath Shaw was suspended for placing bets on a game he was directly involved with and Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell was fined $10,000 but not suspended for bets his family members made.

If even players who are made aware of the Respect and Responsibility programs like the ones in place in the AFL and the WAFL are still tempted to place bets, how easy must it be for people who are not involved to see putting some money on a game as part and parcel of the footy experience?

Ms Raman from Centrecare says that the AFL needs to be more responsible for ‘normalising’ gambling and exposing individuals who might be at risk of problem gambling to easy access to gambling.

“Having such easy access to gambling on the AFL and announcing the odds of football games during a broadcast is almost giving people permission to gamble on games. The problem is where do we take that permission? How far do we take it? It’s so easy now to use and abuse gambling thanks to the internet and smart phones. I don’t think it’s good for young people or perhaps people who might just be inclined towards problem gambling to be exposed to gambling in such a comfortable and familiar environment.”

The sad fact of the matter is exposure to gambling during an AFL broadcast has become a part of the experience. Odds are announced in the lead up to the match and during the match. Mr Davis recognises the serious impact that a player or official involved in a game they’re playing in can have on the sport’s integrity, but is also resigned to the fact that ultimately gambling has become a corporate enterprise.

“If a player or official is found to be guilty, then they’re guilty and they are reprimanded, but in terms of the WAFL accepting money from a betting agency for advertising etc we’d be foolish not to. If we were approached by let’s say TAB or someone like that who said ‘we’ll give you a million dollars to call your league the TAB Sportsbet League’ then we’d be stupid not to.”

Ultimately it appears that the AFL and Australian Rules football in general has found itself in a position where it now accepts gambling as part of the football experience. People willingly surrender their money to place bets on football games and it’s likely they will continue to do so. The question is raised though of who is actually responsible for protecting those vulnerable to problem gambling?

Senator Wilkie is trying to make everyone accountable for problem gamblers by setting rules and regulations for how much people can spend on the pokies. Only time will tell if betting on the Aussie Rules will ever come under such scrutiny.