This week, the University of Sydney announced the establishment of a center for gambling research. The center is heavily funded by the International Center (sic) for Responsible Gaming, Entain Australia, and Sportsbet. Entain Australia and Sportsbet

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The International Center for Responsible Gambling is a U.S.-based organization. It is funded by U.S. casino operators and gambling industry companies such as MGM Resorts, Bally's, IGT, and Ainsworth Gaming Technology (all poker machine manufacturers), and has raised $2.2 million of its $40 million budget on its "supporters" page U.S. Gaming Association and the Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association for their support.

A TAB sign and a cell phone with a betting app.

Australian and international researchers are calling for an end to the "responsible gambling" mantra. Photo Darren England/AAP

In this business, "gaming" equals "gambling." These companies, for whatever reason, want to avoid any direct association with "gambling." The same is true of the International Center for Responsible Gaming, whose board of directors is comprised of executives from the gambling industry and its partners.

Imagine if the University of Sydney had received $600,000 from a tobacco industry front organization to fund cancer research. At one time the tobacco industry enjoyed a very cordial relationship with many researchers, but that would not be tolerated today. The purpose of tobacco industry investment in research is now clear. The tobacco industry used research funding to generate doubt and controversy over studies showing how harmful cigarettes are, and then tried to create confusion once a scientific consensus was reached.

Visitors try out poker machines at the G2E Asian Gaming Expo in Singapore.

The fact that the University of Sydney's Gambling Research Center is funded by casinos is "problematic," experts say.

Tobacco industry-funded research has delayed reforms that would have saved many lives and required impossible standards of proof before accepting new public health solutions.

We know from a growing number of studies that the gambling industry's funding of research has similar goals and uses similar methods. This is especially true when terms such as "responsible gaming" are cited. Prominent Australian and international researchers are increasingly calling for an end to the responsible gambling/gaming mantra and for it to be replaced by an approach that prioritizes harm prevention. "Responsible gambling" blames individuals for the consequences of using a poorly regulated and highly dangerous product, offers interventions that, if actually implemented (which is seldom the case), are at best ineffective "harm minimization" interventions, and allows the money-making machine at big-annuaire.com.

Crown Melbourne has long prided itself on having the best approach to gambling issues in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth". He also noted that this constitutes perhaps the most damning finding by his Royal Commission and imposes enormous costs on the community. All this disregard for customers is the result of the mantra of responsible gambling, a system developed to give the illusion of care to an industry that seems largely indifferent to preventing harm and money laundering, as recent studies have shown The system is

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The University of Sydney has intervened. Professor Sally Gainsbury, director of the new center, has a long history of industry funding and cooperation. The declarations page of the journal she co-edits is lined with the very names of gambling operators, including ClubsNSW, Crown, and Responsible Wagering Australia.

The universities claim that by working with gambling operators, they will have access to de-identified data to facilitate their research. This may be so, but if these companies are so altruistic, why is the provision of data so dependent on funding arrangements? Why not set up data repositories, as is done in Spain, where de-identified data from gambling operators are made available to all researchers, not just a few?

In fact, recommendation 6 of a recent report by an Australian parliamentary committee investigating online gambling recommends that exactly that be considered.

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The AMA has instructed the University of Sydney to "read the room" regarding research funded by the gambling industry.

Recommendation 8 of the report clearly suggested that Australia pursue an international agreement to "reduce the harm of gambling and protect public policy and research from interference from the gambling industry."

Nothing prevents universities from obtaining funding from the gambling industry. But it does mean that the industry, like tobacco, gets a seat on the sidelines at the gambling research table. The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (to which Australia is a signatory) condemns the alliance between research institutions and the tobacco industry: "There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict 

Universities argue that cooperation with gambling companies gives them access to non-specific data that can be used for research. Photo REUTERS/Alamy

Obtaining funding from an industry that manufactures harmful products poses many risks to reputation and credibility. As the old saying goes, "He who pays the bills decides the tune." Universities may deny this situation. Public perception may differ.

But hundreds of thousands of ordinary people, including the partners, friends, and children of gamblers, are sometimes permanently harmed by the gambling industry's continued involvement in the research community. In comparison, $600,000 is nothing.

Tim Costello is the lead advocate for the Gambling Reform Alliance.

This article was amended on August 18, 2023 to remove the reference to the Life Course Center. The University of Sydney initially said in a statement that the Gambling Research Center was funded by the Lifecourse Center, but later retracted the statement. The Guardian is pleased to clarify that the Lifecourse Center has no financial ties to the Gambling Research Center.

Added August 28, 2023 After this article was published, the International Center for Responsible Gaming responded that it has "strict protocols" in place regarding research to prevent funders from influencing research, which can be seen on the ICRG page here He referred to a "firewall" policy, which can be found on the ICRG page here.

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