Review of current and future trends in Interactive gambling activity and regulation
- Previous: (Chapter 6. Future technology trends)
- Next: (Appendix A: Australian Interactive Gambling Hosts)
Chapter 7. Information gaps — where future research should focus
Throughout this study, key gaps in current research and data have been identified. To summarise, the following are the key information gaps for interactive gambling activity and participation.
- Demographic information on who is participating in interactive gambling, including by age, gender, socio-economic status etc. In particular, there is limited data for certain State and Territories (such as Western Australia).
- Information on the incidence of problem gambling amongst those who participate in interactive gambling. The error margins of current estimates mean that they are not sufficiently robust to determine whether interactive gambling is contributing to problem gambling in any significant way (and importantly, the data is insufficient for governments to have certainty in policy decisions on interactive gambling).
- Participation of Australians in international Internet gaming sites— due to the prohibition of these sites it is very difficult to measure how Australians may actually be accessing them.
- Prevalence of young people gambling using interactive methods — current indications are that young people are not necessarily drawn to interactive methods of gambling any more than other methods, though the data available is very limited. Given the emergence of new forms of interactive gambling, such as SMS methods, a greater understanding of youth gambling would assist governments in deciding whether specific policies should be put in place to address youth gambling specifically.
- The effectiveness of responsible gambling initiatives offered by Internet gambling service providers, such as self-exclusion or self-setting betting limits.
The common theme in the above listed areas is that they are all user focused. This highlights the key overall gaps on participation in interactive gambling. Understanding participation trends is essential in determining whether a policy response is required (as it assists in identifying whether a problem is present).
- Previous: (Chapter 6. Future technology trends)
- Next: (Appendix A: Australian Interactive Gambling Hosts)
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