Australian Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has called on the University of Sydney to hand back money from the gambling industry following its announcement of a new gambling research centre, which she alleges is funded by the industry.
“Today, with the assistance of so many generous companies, organisations and individuals, nearly $40 million (US$26.6 million) has been committed to the ICRG, an unprecedented level of funding for gambling research from the private sector,” the organisation notes.
“Sydney University accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from some of the world’s biggest gambling companies and casinos to bankroll a new gambling research centre—this stinks to high heavens!” Ms. Faruqi said.
“Sydney University needs to hand back the money and rule out any future partnerships with the gambling industry, which only serve to launder the industry’s reputation at the expense of research integrity.”
The senator blamed the decision on the corporate university model, which she says allows industries like the gambling sector to get “its dirty tentacles into university and research institutions.”
“These sorts of partnerships are just one toxic feature of the broken corporate university model,” Ms. Faruqi said.
“Ultimately, the corporate university model needs to go, and the government must provide a big boost to public funding—including to research funding—to set unis up for the long term. Universities are a public good and should be treated as such.”
Ms. Faruqi’s call was echoed by numerous experts, including the chief advocate of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, Tim Costello.
“For [gambling companies] to bolster and window-dress their social licence by trumpeting the Sydney University association hurts all Australians,” Mr. Costello said.
University Says Partnership Will Open Opportunities For Researchers
Sydney University notes that the university’s decision to partner with major gambling operators will allow researchers to conduct live trials and test the efficacy of interventions designed to encourage positive behavioural changes that can prevent and reduce gambling-related harms.“This unprecedented collaboration with gambling operators will enable the centre to overcome previous limitations in the field, paving the way for new and effective research outcomes,” said the new centre’s head Professor Sally Gainsbury said.
“The operators will share de-identified data on gambling behaviours and allow us to evaluate new interventions, giving us a unique opportunity to create a dataset with a high level of detail on gamblers.”
Ms. Gainsbury said the funding would open up a wealth of opportunities.
“Through our collaboration with industry operators, policymakers, regulators, community organisations and, of course, consumers and those with lived experience of gambling harms, as well as leveraging the international experts on our Advisory Committee, we aim to ensure that our research findings directly inform policy and practice, leading to real-world harm reduction.”
The CoEGR will be entrenched in the University’s existing research structures, including the Brain and Mind Centre, the Gambling Treatment and Research Clinic, and the Technology Addiction Team to ensure researchers take a holistic and comprehensive approach to addressing gambling-related issues.
In addition, the University of Sydney will provide further financial support, strengthening CoEGR’s research capabilities through funding to support postdoctoral researchers in psychology and economics, enabling further in-depth investigations into gambling behaviour and its impact on society.
