The Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, will commission a public inquiry by the Productivity Commission into the economic and community impacts of gambling in Australia. Mr Costello will ask the Commission to produce an information report on gambling.
The Governments decision follows concerns within the community about the effects of the gambling industry in Australia. For example, a recent estimate by the Tasmanian Gaming Commission suggests that Australians wager around $80 billion a year on gambling. However, there is limited information on the performance of the gambling industries and their economic and community impacts in Australia.
In particular, there is a lack of information on the impact of gambling on the retail, tourism and entertainment industries. The Government has received a number of representations from small retailers arguing that the growth of gambling has adversely affected their businesses. Little is also known about the community impacts of rapid growth in gambling.
Since gambling is almost entirely controlled by the States and Territories, they will be invited to provide comments on the terms of reference for the inquiry.
The Productivity Commission, which has proven expertise and highly regarded public inquiry processes, is well suited to undertake the inquiry. The terms of reference for the inquiry will be forwarded to the Commission once comments from the States and Territories have been received.