As the player protection policies of both state-owned and private operators come under greater scrutiny from lawyers, regulators and politicians, social scientists are also beginning to conduct research in the field. The debate centres on whether science can contribute to responsible gaming best practice and the broader political consequences of research within the European Union.

The European Commission has completed its investigations into the gambling markets of Sweden and Denmark and is now ready to refer both to the European Court of Justice, a Commission official said yesterday.

The final Productivity Commission report with recommendations was presented to the federal government on February 26, 2010. While not yet public, it is set to suggest a new approach to gambling regulation in Australia.

A Harvard Medical School study into the habits of thousands of Bwin customers found that 5 percent of online casino players demonstrated signs of problematic gambling behaviour, compared with just 1 percent of sports bettors in a previous study. Bwin says the findings will assist in the launching of an automated warning system over the coming months, but they may also face political repercussions in a pan-European context.

The UK is now unique among leading international gambling jurisdictions in permitting low stakes gaming machines to be accessed by minors, a new Gambling Commission study has found, highlighting concerns that youth gambling could be an “emerging public health issue” in Britain.

This week’s Australasian Gaming Expo (AGE) in Sydney saw industry minds firmly focused on the nation’s capital Canberra, where the federal government’s Productivity Commission is now drafting the report that will reshape the future of Australia’s gambling sector.

Attacks from the clubs industry on the Australian Productivity Commission's findings may have produced the desired outcome this week, with encouraging words coming from the NSW Gaming and Racing Minister.

Gordon Brown’s statement yesterday sank any prospect of a UK-based Las Vegas-style casino in the immediate future. The news is a further blow to an industry already anxious about the repercussions of the upcoming Gambling Commission prevalence study.

The remote gambling sector suffered a resounding defeat yesterday when MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of adopting a report seen to be firmly against the accelerated development of cross-border online gambling in Europe. But while the report expresses broad consumer protection concerns regarding online gambling, its policy implications are far from clear.

“Gambling advertising will produce more gamblers which will in turn produce more problem gamblers, despite protestations to the contrary,” Gamcare Chairman Anthony Jennens declared yesterday. His statement, coming two days before the Act goes into effect, is one of very few pronouncements by Gamcare on the subject of the new laws, which will extend to the advertising of gambling from September 1.