The gambling industry has deep pockets and political power. But a bold call to churches to unite in prayer from Wesley Mission Sydney’s Superintendent, Stu Cameron, is a call to a much higher power.
The call is for prayer on October 19, the Sunday before GambleAware week commences in NSW. And every state has too much of what has been described as “voluntary taxation of the poor.” Australia loses more to gambling than any other country in the world – by far. $32.2 billion in FY2023-4. 1 in 5 people surveyed in NSW in 2024 said they experienced harm from gambling. Resources for the prayerful pushback are at https://www.wesleymission.org.au/equip-faith-leaders-for-day-of-prayer-on-gambling-harm-2025/
“Gambling harm is a public health crisis in Australia, our nation’s cultural blind spot, and causes untold misery across every postcode and demographic in our nation, including in our churches,” Cameron writes in a letter sent to church leaders. Despite incontrovertible evidence making the case for urgent and substantive gambling reform (of online sports betting and poker machines in particular), and overwhelming public support for change, both state and federal governments are seemingly reluctant to take on the gambling industry. Reform initiatives have stalled.
“Just last week, Wesley Mission released our analysis of the Q2 (April – June) poker machine losses for NSW. Over just 91 days a record $2.27B was lost, an 8.8% increase year on year, and which staggeringly equates to more than $1m an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. At the epicentre of these losses are communities that can least afford it. It is unjust, inequitable and causes incalculable harm, with 21% of NSW residents saying they had experienced the impact of gambling harm, either because of their gambling activity or that of someone close to them.
“In recent months, it has been reinforced for me how vital the prayers of God’s church will be in achieving the reform breakthroughs so desperately needed. I have seen and experienced this repeatedly – that this is a battle not against flesh and blood, but principalities and powers – mammon most especially (Eph 6:12, 1 Tim 6:10).”
The Sydney Anglican Synod last week, noting Stu Cameron’s call for prayer, and the Wesley Mission reserach passed a motion that it “once again calls on the NSW State Government to work diligently towards implementing effective harm minimisation methods for poker machines, such as $1 bet limits, longer compulsory machine shut downs from midnight to 10am, and a universal cashless gaming card with mandatory limit-setting, in order to reduce the misery caused by gambling harm and to address money-laundering in our state.”
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